-Marsha Traugot

About the Writer

Marsha Traugot was a lecturer in communications at the Northeastern
University . She received a BA in literature from Reed College in 1972. She
worked from !977 to 1979 for the children’s Protective services of the
Massachusetts Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Children. She has
published 2 works : “A study of Jean Cocteau’s Les enfants terribles” in 1972
and “Children : Our past, our promise: a history of children’s protective
services” in 1978. The following essay has been taken from the latter.
Inn\ the “Children who wait,” Marsha Traugot suggest reasons for a new
trend in adoption. Now a wider variety o families can open their homes to
children who in the past would have been labeled unadoptable. In setting
forth the causes forth the causes for this phenomenon, she draws from
specific case histories.
 Interpretation of the text
Marsha Traugot wrote the essay “The Children who wait”,
in the prevalent trend of child adoption in few decade in
America context. Marsha Traugot suggests reasons for a
new trend in adoption. Now a wider variety of Families
can open their homes to children who in the past would
have been leveled unadoptable. In setting forth the
causes for this phenomenon, Traugot draws from specific
case histories.
The writer begins her essay with an example of a 51/2 years old black
homeless girl named Tammy who is suffering from fatal alcohol syndrome
which can stop her intellectual growth at any time. By this, Traugot wants
to prove that she is not dealing with fiction but a specific case study. In the
past, especially before 1960, the black, disabled, handicapped and sick
children were unadoptable. Tammy has recently been legally freed for
adoption which shows the changes that have taken place in the American
adoption scene.
Before 1960, only healthy white infants could be adopted. But now, the
American adoption scene has been completely changed due to different civil
rights movements, birth control, changing social values and social science
research. Because of civil rights movements, the attitudes of American
people towards Negro children changed. Due to birth control and legalized
abortion, fewer unwanted babies were born. Even the unmarried women
could keep their babies with them because of the changing social values. As
a result, healthy babies were hardly available for adoption and people turned
their attention to other children like Tammy. Due of massive growth of
population, the number of homeless children is in the increasing trend.
Between 1960 and 1978, the number of children in the foster home reached
nearly half a million. Many states have no idea about the number of children
who lived with their biological parents, who lived in foster homes and those
children who could be adopted. If such children were left in the foster homes
more than 18 months, they would suffer from different kinds of illnesses and
social crimes. It would make their life more troublesome, complicated and
worse. The politicians also wouldn’t invest any fund to begin new programs
for such children as the children have no rights to vote. So, the homeless
children were neglected and uncared.
According to the child care specialists, the cost of keeping an average child in foster
home was. $3,600 to $24,000. This shows that the foster home was expensive and
cruel. The writer suggests that the social workers should change their attitudes.
They should accept even disabled children for adoption. They should open child
care centers and hold meetings.
Now, the social workers write down
the characteristics of the child and the
profile of a suitable family and then they
try to match. To find the possible adoptive
parents, the social workers first look to
their lists. They give detailed information
about the children to the regional exchange
offices. They organize meetings and parties for
children and possible parents to meet informally. If they still can t find adopters by
personal contact, they advertise on T.V. and publish the child’s profile in the
newspapers. Thus, the child welfare specialists and the social workers can do a lot
for the children who wait for adoption.
 Critical Analysis
Adoption Through the Years
In ancient times, adoption was structured to benefit the adults more than the
children. In ancient Rome, some wealthy families adopted boys to act as male
heirs. In many countries, families adopted children because they needed them
to contribute to the home, the farm, or the family business. Instead of entering
loving families, many abandoned children became slaves and servants.
Similar adoption practices persisted throughout the centuries. Despite
adoption’s drawbacks, adoption benefited many children as well. If nothing else,
it kept children out of orphanages. Many children were informally adopted by
relatives, friends, or neighbors.

The first adoption law to protect United States children was passed in
Massachusetts in 1851. The law states that the adoptive parents must have
consent from the child’s birth parents. It also states that adoptive parents must
be capable of raising the child.
Over the years, further laws and practices came into effect to protect children. In
1909, President Theodore Roosevelt spoke at a conference about the need to
place children in homes rather than orphanages. Some states passed adoption-
related legislation as a result.
By the mid-1900s, almost all states passed laws that held adoptive parents and
agencies to certain standards. For example, parents must go through a screening
process before adopting a child. Also, the agencies must keep adoption records
confidential.
In recent years, many American children have been adopted through the foster care
system. This system had an interesting beginning. Noting the thousands of homeless,
orphaned children on city streets, a protestant minister developed a program to send
these homeless children to families in rural areas. Between 1859 and 1929, thousands
of orphan children were transported to new families on what were called “Orphan
Trains.”
Today, children whose parents cannot care for them are placed in foster homes and
looked after by foster parents. Some of these children are able to return to their
families with time, while others are adopted.
International adoption also became common in the 20th century. Improved global
transportation methods made it possible to bring home a child from an impoverished
or war-torn country.
Adoption Today
There has been a shift in the kinds of children needing adoptive families, where
those children come from, who their original parents are, the kinds of families that
adopt them, and the evidence-based principles now considered best practice for
adoption policy and practice. Many misconceptions about adoption persist among
the general public and among social workers, because most professionals in the
field have not had sufficient, if any, adoption education.
The role of first fathers has also changed. It is now best practice to include them as
important, necessary participants in the preadoption exploration and planning
process; indeed, failure to do so has led to tragic, highly publicized cases. First
mothers and fathers are encouraged to have voices and choices; many first fathers,
along with the child's first mother, choose the adoptive family.
Today, domestic adoptions of white infants are relatively few—about 15,000 each
year. The majority of adoptions today, 50,000, excluding adoptions by stepparents,
are of children who entered the child welfare system due to abuse or neglect by
their original parents. Most of these children have suffered traumatic losses, are no
longer infants, are of color, are in sibling groups that should be placed together,
and/or have special physical, learning, or behavioral health needs that have been
identified or are yet to emerge. Each of these circumstances requires informed and
skilled parenting; hence, all prospective adoptive parents are best served when they
enter adoption knowing it is possible they may need specialized support services
down the road.
A Peek at the Future
Complex, diverse, extended family networks of adoptive and biological kin are
here to stay. Fortunately, most adopted people, including those born with
challenges or who have endured trauma, function well, and the vast majority of
adoptive parents are satisfied with their adoptions.

It is also true, however, that accessible, affordable, high quality services for both
original and adoptive families are needed, so every child can be raised in a safe,
nurturing, permanent home in which all family members thrive. Ideally, all
children would be able to grow up well cared for in their families of origin so
adoption would not be needed. When adoption is necessary, lifelong access to
high quality pre- and postadoption support services should be provided. Pursuing
this vision is a crucial agenda for social work.
 QUESTIONS TO BE DISCUSSED

1. Give a short description about Tammy.

2. Whom does Marsha Traugot refer to as the children
who wait?
3. Why was it difficult for the handicapped and the
black children to find foster family?
According to Traugot , what changes are
transforming the American adoption scene? What
factors are responsible for the changes?
4. What kinds of parents were considered suitable for
adopting children? What kind of children were
considered ‘Unadoptable’?