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Full-Text Articles in Family Law
Adoption Ouroboros: Repeating The Cycle Of Adoption As Rescue, Malinda L. Seymore
Adoption Ouroboros: Repeating The Cycle Of Adoption As Rescue, Malinda L. Seymore
Faculty Scholarship
Ouroboros—the circular symbol of the snake eating its tail; an endless cycle. As the U.S. recently withdrew from Afghanistan in chaos and Russia invaded Ukraine, the attention of Americans turned, as it frequently has in times of international conflict, to the plight of children in need of rescue. For many Americans, rescue is synonymous with adoption. The history of international adoption began with rescues following America’s wars in Europe and Asia and continues today through other violent upheavals. International adoption is an ouroboros, repeating the pattern of adoption as a response to humanitarian crises. But as human and charitable as …
Openness In International Adoption, Malinda L. Seymore
Openness In International Adoption, Malinda L. Seymore
Faculty Scholarship
After a long history of secrecy in domestic adoption in the United States, there is a robust trend toward openness. That is, however, not the case with international adoption. The recent growth in international adoption has been spurred, at least in part, by the desire of adoptive parents to return to closed, confidential adoptions where the identity of the birth mother is secret and there is no ongoing contact with her. There is, however, an emergent interest in increased openness in international adoption, spurred by the success of domestic open adoptions, health concerns when an adoptee's genetic history is important, …
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle: How Children's Literature Reflects Motherhood, Identity, And International Adoption, Susan Ayres
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle: How Children's Literature Reflects Motherhood, Identity, And International Adoption, Susan Ayres
Faculty Scholarship
Children's books are "a source of law" for children because "[children] are constantly trying to make sense of what is going on around them, and although literature itself is only a constituent of life experience, as a constituent it is potentially of the greatest importance." As adults and lawyers, we can also read children's books as a source of law because they reflect patriarchal ideologies about the family and stigma surrounding adoption. Like other myths, children's books tell stories about origins and constitute not only subjects but are also the foundation of law by reflecting legal norms and projecting legal …