While the number of children that are available for adoption has dropped in the West, the demand for adoptable children has not ceased growing. The result is that today two-thirds of all adoptions concern a child from another country. International adoptions, often a difficult and expensive process for the prospective parents, have been severely attacked on the grounds that they have led to the development of an international baby market. Edwige Rude-Antoine examines the truth of this accusation. She addresses several questions: What is the motivation of the prospective parents ? How have different governments dealt with the rising demand for adoptions ? What legal procedures have they implemented, and what effect have they had ? How does an adoption case actually unfold ? The author goes beyond an examination of the legal and procedural differences that can be found around the world. She explores the emotions of the adopted children: Do they feel the need to look for their biological family ? Do they try to preserve any vestiges of their own ethnic and cultural origins ? And if they do, how do they go about it ? How do they develop their own identity ? This book will be a useful tool for both childcare professionals and adoptive parents.

Edwige Rude-Antoine, a lawyer and sociologist, heads a research team at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (URMIS, University of Paris-VII and Paris-VIII). She is the author of Des Vies et des Familles. Les Immigrés. la Loi et les Coutumes.