Adoption is an alternative way to have a family; it is a lifetime decision that should be made very cautiously. Adoption is a process where parents are supplied for children whose biological parents are deceased, or for those children whose biological parents are unable or unwilling to provide for their care. "Adoption creates a parent-child relationship recognized for all purposes including: child support obligations, inheritance rights and custody"(Aigner p 10). The children are provided for childless couples or individuals interested in becoming parents. "According to Dr. Ruth Mc. Roy at the UT School of Social work, there are approximately 5,000,000 US births each year. Out of that approximation 118,000 are adoptions." Adoption is traced back to the bible. It is known that the Pharaoh's wife adopted Moses, and Jesus was even adopted by Joseph. Adoption even goes as far back as the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and even the Babylonians. There were guidelines for adoption written in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, the oldest set of written laws, and the practice of adoption Gradually became the institution of adoption, as the legal guidelines evolved through the Holy Roman Empire, the kingdoms of Europe and Asia, and finally, the United States and the Americas. It is recorded that Judaism and Christianity was founded on the idea of open adoption. Before 1850, there were no laws governing adoption. Kids would just be given away without any questions; it was economically motivated because of the circumstances that existed. People living in the city would give up their kids because they couldn't afford to take care of their children. Farmers loved to receive them because they were able to make them help out on the farm. In 1850 adoption became legally recognized in the United States. The government began making minimal standards for adoption, hoping that the old way of adoption would die out.
