Adoption is the process by which somebody takes legal ownership of a child.
I don't know a lot about how to go about the adoption process.  Can you tell me some about it?
A couple or an individual can be at the helm of the process
So they will allow individuals to adopt as well - would that be through a public or a private adoption?
These changes are meant to have a permanent change in the parent and child's lives
I would imagine so - so many kids in foster care these days due to parents that have no business having children.
The modern adoption systems arose in the 20th century
I would have thought it was older than that - do you know the percent of adoptions that are performed each year?
The Code of Hammurabi, for example, details the rights of adopters and the responsibilities of adopted individuals at length. The practice of adoption in ancient Rome is well documented in the Codex Justinianus.
Markedly different from the modern period, ancient adoption practices put emphasis on the political and economic interests of the adopter, providing a legal tool that strengthened political ties between wealthy families and created male heirs to manage estates. The use of adoption by the aristocracy is well documented; many of Rome's emperors were adopted sons. Adrogation
and Terry meet with an adoption counselor named Anne to go over their worries about becoming parents. The adoption counselor tells them, "Man or woman, gay or straight, what you're facing is a long, long wait." The couple decide upon an open adoption process, where they will be able to meet the baby's birth mother. Melissa, a teenager who is pregnant and homeless, selects them as the couple to care for her child ("Her Name Is Melissa"). She describes her life