by Adam Pertman

About the author: Adam Pertman, a reporter for the Boston Globe for more than twenty years, is the author of Adoption Nation: How the Adoption Revolution Is Transforming America, from which the following viewpoint was excerpted.

It’s no accident that Americans adopt more children internationally than do the inhabitants of the rest of the planet combined. After all, nearly every one of us came to this extraordinary country from somewhere else. We don’t always find it easy to accept new waves of immigrants, but we invariably succeed in weaving their facial structures, their skin tones, and their heritages into our cultural tapestry. Throughout its history, this nation has opened its doors to people who, for more reasons than anyone can count, have needed new homes. It has taken us in, given us...