Family Norms in Adoption Law: Safeguarding the Best Interests of the Adopted Child

In U.S. law, biological parents are presumed to be fit custodians of their children, and have a natural right to the custody, care and control of their children. Only if there is family disruption, for example, divorce, or a substantiated report of neglect or abuse, will the state intervene in the privacy of the family. It is after custody is disrupted or disputed, “challenged,” as it were, by the incident or situation leading to state intervention that the best interests of the child test will be applied. In adoption, some incident such as the death or disability of parents, termination of or relinquishment of parental rights and duties, triggers the need for a custody decision, with the operative presumption that it is in the best interests of the child to place him or her with a stable family, a replacement for the biological family from whence the child originated. In contrast, to the status of biological parents, however, there is no presumptive fitness for the category of persons desiring to be foster parents, or adoptive parents. To a significant extent, prospective foster or adoptive parents are required to prove parental fitness before being considered for the placement of a child, and to be monitored for some period after placement to assure that the placement is safe for the child. While the practices of private and state agencies vary to some extent, the conjugal family has been the preferred site for the placement of children in adoptive homes, because this family form, although imperfect in particular instances, has been the most successful form of the family in this country both historically and currently. Adoptive placement preferences for married