Late Discovery Of Adoption Essay

The purpose of this chapter is to present a comprehensive discussion of relevant literature, both local and foreign, pertaining to the research topic. It also provides information that contributes to the understanding of an area of interest of the researchers as they go through the study.

At present, there are only a handful of researches conducted that may be thoroughly or marginally pertaining to adoption, explicitly, Late Discovery Adoptees. At the commencement of this paper and as far as the researchers are concerned, there are two well-known researches focusing on the late discovery adoptees which were both international. The first is a qualitative descriptive study focused on the late discovery of adoptive status which was undertaken

Moe, author of many books including Adoption: A Reference Handbook, looked back and stated that:

The Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (approximately 1780 BC) was found in what is now Southern Iraq; it contains the oldest written law on adoption. One section of the code discusses risks and concerns about the experience of adoption – the parents may treat the adopted child differently (from their birth children), that the child will suffer from changes in caregivers, or that the family and the adopted child may not be a good match. Ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and other countries in the Middle East, and Asia all practiced some form of adoption.

Adoption law was not part of English Common Law, from which many other U.S. laws evolved. (England did not even have adoption laws until 1926) Much of the adoption law of the United States evolved from Napoleonic code or from early Roman law having to do with inheritance. The purpose of adoption was not necessarily to promote the welfare of the child but to give the adults an heir. Modern U.S. adoption law came into being in the late 1800s as a way of helping orphaned and neglected children. In the recent past, however, adoption laws and policies have changed more than ever before. Most experts agree that two principles have emerged to guide adoption practice: decisions should be made in the best interests of the child, and a permanent home for every child is the primary goal of

In the Philippines, the origins of adoption dated from the early 1900’s. In the early days, religious organizations provided care for poor and abandoned children. The Hospicio de San Jose began taking care of abandoned babies in 1810; in 1885, Asilo de St. Vincent De Paul began caring for destitute and orphaned girls. In 1917, under U.S. auspices, the country establishes its first governmental orphanage (Balanon, 1989). In the Adoption: A Reference Handbook, the timeline on the changes and development regarding adoption was described