Transnational adoptive kinship in birth countries may not just refer to recovered or restituted kinship between blood relations, the
birth mother and her adopted child; rather, as seen in the collection, it reverberates as powerful, public feelings of mutual concern and consideration for others caught up in the adoption experience.
(31) The focus on commercial surrogacy in this Article also excludes altruistic surrogacy, wherein the
birth mother carries the child at no cost to the commissioning parents.
I am transgender." Instead of shame or disgust, her
birth mother showered her with unconditional love and acceptance, and offered an unspoken blessing.
However, in three families, when the adult child did not care to interact with the birth family, the adoptive parent did so; in one case, the parents said this was out of compassion for the birth parent, in a second case they said it was because the
birth mother and adoptive father had their own long-standing friendship independent of the child, and in a third the parents said it was because the adult child said he preferred it that way.
But after six months of not hearing from her
birth mother, her world crumbles.
(16) While not purporting to be comprehensive, the media survey data is used here to identify the experiences of families relating to some of the elements of surrogacy that are the focus of the current wave of regulation: in particular, the relationship status of intended parents, the relationship of intended parents to
birth mother, the role of genetic connectedness, and the incidence of payment and evasive travel.
Closer examination revealed that in 60% of the cases, discrepancies resulted from differences between
birth mother and researcher in interpretation of the meaning of joint custody, physical versus legal custody, and custody of children placed informally or living independently.
Some hope to build a relationship with their
birth mother; others will be satisfied simply to obtain some answers to their questions.
Cyberspace now is filled with countless "hotlinks," online adoption resources that range from private and public agencies, to chat rooms, to
birth mother profiles, to attorneys.
Tip is pushed out of the way of a car by an unknown woman, who is injured by her action, and the family comes to realize she is their
birth mother and her 11-year-old daughter is their sister.
This is what happened to Elyse Schein after she decided to search for her
birth mother. Participants in a study comparing the effects of nature versus nurture, Schein and her twin sister, Paula Bernstein, had been separated at birth, adopted by two families, and given no knowledge of the other's existence.
The changes aimed to prepare the children for adoption by cutting off access with the
birth mother.