A child who is born from one set of parents and becomes the child of other parents is said to be adopted. Adoption can provide a home and a family for a child who cannot have the care of his natural parents for any reason. It can also make it possible for people who are childless to have children.

Most people think that adoption is a fairly new practice, but it is centuries old. It was a practice that was well known to the Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks, Egyptians and Romans. However, the practice of adopting children did not become widespread until the 20th century when it grew in popularity in most European countries. The practice is now most popular in the United States, where during the past 50 years; the number of adoptions has increased by leaps and bounds. Well over 100,000 children are adopted annually in the United States alone.

There are many reasons why children have to be adopted. Sometimes a child suffers the death of one or both parents. Or the parent suffers an illness that cannot be cured, so a court decides that it would be best for the child to be adopted. There also parents who discover that they are not able to take care of a child after it is born, so they place him with a family who wants to adopt him and has the means to look after him. Some natural parents feel that they are not mature enough or suffer the stigma of being unmarried, so they're not prepared to make a comfortable home for the child. These parents come from every social class and have varied backgrounds in race, religion, educational attainment and economic position. Social workers say that but the child up to adoption does not necessarily mean that the natural parents do not care for the child. In contrast, most parents consent to the adoption of their children because they love them and they wish the children to have the opportunities and the care that they're unable to provide.

Most of the children who are adopted in the United States are adopted by stepparents or other close relatives. The other children are adopted through child welfare agencies or through the aid of clergymen and doctors. There are public and private child welfare agencies in every state and in all major cities. These are supported by tax money and voluntary contributions. These agencies have in their care children of different ages who need adoption, ranging from babies who are only a few days old to adolescents.

A child who is adopted when he is a very young knows only his adoptive parents and may never guess that he was not born to them. Child welfare experts feel that it is better for a child to know from the time that he was small that he was adopted, otherwise there is a danger that he would find out the truth someday in a way that can hurt him. The fact of adoption need not disturb the parents or the child as long as a child feels that his adoptive parents truly love and care for him.