by Darlene Gerow

About the author: Darlene Gerow is editor of the CUB Communicator, a newsletter of Concerned United Birthparents (CUB).

Adoption is perceived by society as primarily an altruistic act where a child is rescued from a dreadful fate. The child’s mother is portrayed as not wanting her child and the child’s father as usually being nonexistent. The adopting parents are mythically portrayed as saint-like rescuers who provide a “happily ever after.” In reality, birthparents anguish over the loss of their children, adoptive families are just as dysfunctional as natural families, and adoption is a huge, profit-driven industry where babies are the commodity. As it is currently practiced in America, infant adoption by non-relatives does more to meet the needs of affluent adopters than to help children.

A Billion-Dollar U.S. Industry