Adoption : a brief social and cultural history / Peter Conn.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Prologue: What is Adoption? -- Doing what comes naturally -- Adoption's long and often surprising history -- Adoption in America -- Culture, nationalism, and intercountry adoption -- Imagining Adoption -- Index.

In this essential contribution to the current literature on adoption, Peter Conn seamlessly draws upon philosophy, history, literary criticism, and related fields to offer a fascinating narrative of the global history of adoption. By bringing an unprecedented historical perspective to bear on the subject, Conn advances our understanding of the role of the concept of 'culture' in attitudes toward international adoption and provides an enduring conceptual and historical framework for future research. This book is crucial to understanding the issues faced not only by the ever-growing number of adoptees in the United States, but also to the welfare of children the world over.