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Reflections on Adoption Ethics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2009

Stephen G. Post
Affiliation:
Associate Professor of Biomedical Ethics and Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy in the Center for Biomedical Ethics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
Mary B. Mahowald
Affiliation:
A philosopher and professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pritzger School of Medicine, University of Chicago, and Assistant Director, Maclean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, University of Chicago.

Extract

Adoption, from the Latin opiate, “to choose,” means “to take (a person) into a relationship, especially another's child as one's own” (The Oxford Encyclopedic English Dictionary). The word implies a permanent taking of responsibility. While the assumption that biological parents should rear their children is vital to society, adoption provides an alternative that is sometimes necessary.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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