Depending on a child's circumstances, alternatives may include family preservation, kinship care, fictive kinship care, temporary guardianship and permanent legal guardianship. The appropriate arrangement depends on the child's safety, needs and applicable laws.

I question the adoption industry's practices and advocate for children's rights, family preservation and meaningful consideration of alternatives. My focus is on examining the evidence, listening to adult adoptees and asking whether our existing systems adequately protect the people they are intended to serve.

Every child deserves safety, stability and appropriate care. When parents cannot provide that care, possible arrangements include safe relatives, other trusted caregivers, guardianship and adoption. The important question is which arrangement protects the child's interests and circumstances.

Claims that 36 families are waiting for every available infant are widely repeated, but the ratio lacks a reliable, independently verified national foundation. Interest in adoption, approved waiting families and completed infant adoptions are different measurements.

InventingNormal focuses on adoption and child welfare rather than advocating a position on abortion. Pregnancy decisions and parenting decisions are distinct, and adoption should not be presented as a substitute for pregnancy-related healthcare.

No. The total number of children in foster care is not the number awaiting adoption. Some children have reunification or other permanency goals, while others have adoption plans. A child having an adoption plan also does not necessarily mean they are legally free for adoption.

Adoption experiences vary. Separation, loss and experiences before or after adoption can affect children differently. Research recognizes the importance of understanding these experiences without assuming that every adoptee has identical outcomes.

Adoption commonly results in an amended birth certificate naming the adoptive parents. Some adoptees object because their original birth records may then become restricted, as well as the ethical complication of putting false information on a record of live birth. Laws governing access to those original records differ significantly among states.