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Forming Families By Law - Adoption In America Today, Joan Hollinger, Naomi Cahn

Joan Hollinger

The article focuses on the laws related to adoption in the U.S. It is stated that there is a long history in the U.S. of some children being raised by adults other than their biological parents, but legal recognition of these families was not generally available until states began enacting formal adoption laws in the mid-nineteenth century. By legitimizing a parent-child relationship between biogenetic strangers, adoption strikes some skeptics.