Making Families Through Adoption provides a comprehensive look at adoption practices both in the United States and in other cultures, and a general understanding of the practices and ideology of kinship and family. The subject of adoption allows a window into discussions of what constitutes family or kin, the role of biological connectedness, oversight of parenting practices by the state, and the role of race, gender, sexuality, and socio-economic class in the building of families. While reviewing practices of and issues surrounding adoption, the authors highlight the ways these practices and discussions allow us greater insight into overall practices of kinship and family.

Chapter 1. Adoption Across Cultures
Chapter 2. Adoption in the United States: Historical Perspectives
Chapter 3. Adoption: Private Decisions, Public Influences
Chapter 4. Race, Ethnicity, and Racism in Adoption and Fosterage Systems
Chapter 5. The Practices of Transnational Adoption
Further Exploration

Nancy Riley is a sociologist whose research focuses on family, gender and population and China. She has recently finished a project (Laboring in Paradise: Gender, Work, and Family in a Chinese Economic Zone) in Dalian, China, on the family lives of women factory workers. Courses taught include Families, Sociology of Gender, Contemporary Chinese Societies, and Introduction to Human Population. She is also interested in the experiences of Chinese in the United States and is currently doing research on Honolulüs Chinatown, examining how the unusual history and racial make-up of that city influences Chinatown.