| Approved by
Vote of the Board of Directors of the Child Welfare League of America,
November 5, 1938
I. The safeguards that the child should be given are:
1. That he be not unnecessarily deprived of his kinship ties.
2. That the family asking for him have a good home and good family
life to offer and that the prospective parents be well adjusted
to each other.
3. That he is wanted for the purpose of completing an otherwise
incomplete family group, in which he will be given support, education,
loving care, and the feeling of security to which any child is entitled.
II. The safeguards that the adopting family should expect are:
1. That the identity of the adopting parents should be kept from
the natural parents.
2. That the child have the intelligence and the physical and mental
background to meet the reasonable expectations of the adopting parents.
3. That the adoption proceedings be completed without unnecessary
publicity.
III. The safeguards that the state should require for its own and
the child’s protection are:
1. That the adopting parents should realize that in taking the
child for adoption they assume as serious and permanent an obligation
as do parents rearing their own children, including the right to
inherit.
2. That there be a trial period of residence of reasonable length
for the best interests of the family and the child whether there
be a legal requirement for it or not.
3. That the adoption procedure be sufficiently flexible to avoid
encouragement of illegitimacy on the one hand and trafficking in
babies on the other.
4. That the birth records of an adopted child be so revised as
to shield him from unnecessary embarrassment in case of illegitimacy.
These safeguards are best provided to the natural parents and also
to those asking adoption if they turn to a well established children’s
organization which has a reputation in this field for good advice
and good results. |
