In 1950 one of the most controversial adoption stories emerged in the media when a 15 month-old baby girl was adopted through the Children’s Home Society in Pasadena, California.
Baby Linda Joy Young’s adoption story did not end well. Just months after Robert and Bernice Young adopted her, baby Linda was diagnosed with Leukemia and shortly thereafter died from the illness.
Back then there were not many requirements to be qualified to adopt. A mere look over your home to ensure it was, suitably kept and a certificate to prove the couples’ inability to have a child of their own was all that was required. Today is much different with many requirements needed to qualify. Some have argued that many foster children remain in the foster care system because of the present laws. These laws often make it impossible for African Americans to adopt, subsequently placing African American babies in the arms of with Europeans or other White people.
In a 1950 LIFE magazine article it was reported that a million couples were waiting to adopt babies, with only 75,000 children available. 50,000 of these children were of African American descent.
Today more than 100,000 children in foster care are waiting to be adopted. Of these children 28% are African American.
Although there lies many myths as to why white people adopt black babies, there is truth about one reason. They simply do it out of love for the child. Moreover, it has been reported that there are simply not enough African American couples willing or qualified to adopt black babies. Although many white couples would prefer to adopt a white baby there are not enough white babies available.
Each year foreign families adopt many U.S. children. As that number continues to rise, the majority of the children are African American. The change in adoption laws over the past few decades has now allowed birth mother to choose the family they decide to place their baby with. Many of these are African American mothers who wish a better life for their children, and believe this life can be achieved if they are placed with families overseas, according to some experts.
Some black Americans are against whites adopting black children.
The National Association of Black Social Workers, reportedly call this form of adoption a “particular form of genocide.”
Currently there are a half million children waiting in foster care. 40% of them are black. 74% of the babies that are abandoned in hospitals are black. Several thousands of these children are on the adoption waiting list that on an average takes up to 3 years.
With so many children waiting in foster care it one would think it should not matter what color the adoptive parents are.