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American College of Pediatricians - June 2008
1. The American College of Pediatricians affirms adoption as the best option for children who cannot be raised within their natural families. An appropriate adoptive family provides a child love, permanency, stability and the same legal rights as if he or she had been born into that family.
2. Adoptive placement of a child should be promoted as a courageous, loving, and life-giving alternative to abortion.
3. Whenever possible, the child to be adopted should be placed into the optimal family structure of a loving, stable, married, mother-father unit.
4. Adoption agencies should avoid placing children in suboptimal family situations such as with same-sex couples or polyamorous unions. Single parent settings are suboptimal when a married, mother-father unit is available.
5. All adoption decisions should be made with the best interests of the child foremost. Adoption policies should reflect adults' commitment to meeting the needs of the child, rather than the child fulfilling the needs or wishes of the adults.
6. All adoptions should take place under strict legal, moral, and ethical standards.
7. We support those court decisions declaring that persons have no inherent "right to adopt." Children are not property or societal awards.
Principal Author: Leah Willson, MD, FCP
The American College of Pediatricians is a national medical association of licensed physicians and healthcare professionals who specialize in the care of infants, children, and adolescents. The mission of the College is to enable all children to reach their optimal, physical and emotional health and well being.
A printable Adobe Acrobat (pdf) copy of this position is available by clicking here.
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