Elizabeth Bartholet

According to Elizabeth Bartholet, children who are adopted early in infancy fare as well as children who are raised by their biological parents. In addition, she argues that adoption is the best option for troubled children who cannot return to their homes because of abuse or neglect. Putting such children up for adoption is far preferable to returning them to their biological parents or the foster care system, Bartholet contends. Bartholet is a law professor and the author of Nobody’s Children: Abuse, Neglect, Foster Drift, and the Adoption Alternative, from which the following excerpt was taken.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What are three recently enacted initiatives designed to increase the number of adopted children, as cited by Bartholet?
2. What evidence does the author cite to support her view that people are willing to adopt...