Adoption Adoption is technically defined as “a two-step judicial process in conformance to state statutory provisions in which the legal obligations and rights of a child toward the biological parents are terminated and new rights and obligations are created in the acquired parents” (“Adoption” 1). However, the definition of adoption extends further than the cold and unfeeling dictionary definition. Adoption is love and joy and contentment and wholeness and laughter and tears and growth and work and a new start. My oldest brother was adopted, in addition to eight of my cousins, and I am so thankful that each one of them had the opportunity to be placed in my family. They are my family and the joy I see in the younger kids’ faces at being a …show more content…
Closed adoptions remove all trace of a birth parent -- some even going as far as to create a new birth certificate for their adopted child with the names of the adoptive parents on it and the names of the birth parents removed (“Introduction to Issues” 1) Open adoptions help eliminate the feelings of neglect and abandonment an adopted child typically feels when his birth parents give him up. Professionals raise the topic of the psychological effects that come from closed adoption and how “shrouding adoption in secrecy and shame [leads] to long-term emotional problems for children and parents” (“Introduction to Issues” 1). The “secrecy” surrounding an adopted child’s origins makes adoption seem like something negative that adopted children should be ashamed of. However, adoption shows the highest form of love and should be celebrated, not shunned. A family who actively chooses to take in another child and loves and cares for him like their own exemplify the maximum amount of goodwill and love in this world. In addition, open adoption benefits everyone involved. Adoptive parents gain a child to love and care for that they may have been unable to