The Story
Product DescriptionDrawing on articles in social work and mental health journals, activist newsletters and autobiographies by search activists, this text offers a new perspective on adoption and the search debate, placing them within a social context.From Library JournalWegar's thoughtful book grew out of a dissertation generated by her dual status as an adoptee and sociologist. She deals with the controversy over sealed birth records, concentrating on the ambivalence toward adoptees, adoptive parents, and birth parent(s) at the institutional, rather than personal, level. She discusses the implications of cultural attitudes toward all three groups and shows how the adopted child's kinship identity development is arguably seen as being primarily determined by genes or by social ties. Citing adoptees', adoptive parents', and birth parents' personal positions toward opening birth records as presented in the scholarly and popular media, Wegar suggests parallels between release of the genetic background information of adoptees and cases involving donated eggs and semen. She concludes that 'the search debate will have to move [on].' This accessible, provocative study is for academics and interested lay people.?Suzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology, Alfre..' This accessible, provocative study is for academics and interested lay people.?Suzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology, AlfredCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.From the Back CoverMembers of adoption trianglesadoptees, birth parents, and adopting parentsmust struggle with difficult and sometimes heartrending issues. Should adopted children be enabled to trace their biological parents? Does the individual's right to selfdiscovery outweigh another's wish for confidentiality? In this thoughtful book, sociologist Katarina Wegar offers a new perspective on adoption and the search debate, placing them within a social context.
Description
Product DescriptionDrawing on articles in social work and mental health journals, activist newsletters and autobiographies by search activists, this text offers a new perspective on adoption and the search debate, placing them within a social context.From Library JournalWegar's thoughtful book grew out of a dissertation generated by her dual status as an adoptee and sociologist. She deals with the controversy over sealed birth records, concentrating on the ambivalence toward adoptees, adoptive parents, and birth parent(s) at the institutional, rather than personal, level. She discusses the implications of cultural attitudes toward all three groups and shows how the adopted child's kinship identity development is arguably seen as being primarily determined by genes or by social ties. Citing adoptees', adoptive parents', and birth parents' personal positions toward opening birth records as presented in the scholarly and popular media, Wegar suggests parallels between release of the genetic background information of adoptees and cases involving donated eggs and semen. She concludes that 'the search debate will have to move [on].' This accessible, provocative study is for academics and interested lay people.?Suzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology, Alfre..' This accessible, provocative study is for academics and interested lay people.?Suzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology, AlfredCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.From the Back CoverMembers of adoption trianglesadoptees, birth parents, and adopting parentsmust struggle with difficult and sometimes heartrending issues. Should adopted children be enabled to trace their biological parents? Does the individual's right to selfdiscovery outweigh another's wish for confidentiality? In this thoughtful book, sociologist Katarina Wegar offers a new perspective on adoption and the search debate, placing them within a social context.
