Male interest in another woman's child
OK.... I can't help but bring this one to the table, because at first look, it had "creepy" written all over it.
In the most surprising findings unveiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2.3 percent of American men prefer fathering adopted children, compared to only 1.1 percent among women.
Being twice more likely than women to adopt children, 1.2 million men aged between 15 and 44, as compared to 613,000 women, in the same age group, adopted children according to the data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth.
However, while men who adopt are more likely to have already fathered a child than men who do not adopt, the same doesn’t hold true for women. For the fairer sex, women who have never had a child are more likely to adopt than mothers who have their biological children.
While previous government surveys focused greatly on the patterns of adoption among married women, the current survey is the first to look at men's experiences of adoption as well as those of unmarried women.
Though unable to outline the exact reason as to why more men adopt children than women, the reason, however, may have a lot to do with the nature of family living arrangements, experts feel.
http://www.themedguru.com/articles/more_men_seeking_adoption_than_women_in_us-8617306.html
Now, I'm sure these statistics represent the growing number of gay couples wanting to adopt, or second marriage situations, where the man adopts a woman's child for name-reasons, explaining the new nature of family living arrangements.
That suggested trend (changed living arrangement) is not what bothers me enough to comment. Something far more subtle caught my attention. What's this "more men prefer fathering adopted children"? What does that mean.... and what's this age-group of adopting -- "between 15-44"?!?
Knowing the dynamics of child trafficking and how so many children are being shoved into the sex industry, or used sexually by their afathers, call me over-protective, but.... these findings do trigger a sense of alarm in me.
Can someone please explain the attraction men have to adoption? [I always thought it was done to keep The Wife happy, but then, I know my opinion comes from my own personal experience!]
Comments
more on that
When I read the above article, the terminology "more men prefer fathering adopted children" didn't sit well with me either. So I checked up the original study Adoption Experiences of Women and Men and it nowhere mentions that same phrase. So the 2.3 percent mentioned pertains to people that actually adopted, not people that would prefer to adopt.
While there is no denying that children are being adopted by pedophiles and other categories of child abusers, no study of this kind will ever be able to detect such an effect. Even if there were some 50,000 pedophiles and child abusers adopting, it would still be outside of the error margin of studies like these.
The age range 15-44 relates to the data source used for this study, the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, which is based on nation wide interviews of people in the age group 15-44. The Adoption Experiences of Women and Men study, was based on a subset of these interviews in the age range 18-44.
The news media have responded with much surprise to the outcomes of the study, which underlines their ignorance on the subject.
The fact men adopt twice as much as women is only logical since most women receive custody after divorce. In a second marriage it is hence more likely men adopt children of their new wife, than the other way around.
Another "surprising" fact is that females of minority groups adopt more than caucasian females. One doesn't need a study like this to figure that out. Most children put in foster care come from minority families and most of those children are adopted by close relatives, so it is more likely for women from minority groups to adopt more than for caucasian women. The "surprising" facts of the study are just confirmation of common sense logic. In a way these findings are much like the statistical studies that claim most bricks are square and made of clay.
What surprised me most about this study was the time it took to compile these staggering findings. The data was collected in 2002 and apparently it took the Center for Disease Control and Prevention six years to compile the information into a document. I certainly hope disease control and prevention is responded to with more agility, otherwise an epidemic is over before it being detected by this bureau.
fruedian slip?
this might actually represent some unspoken ideas floating around there. just speculation on my part.
adoption might be seen as a prophylactic in some way. a hedge against responsibility.
because, even though denied vehemently, i suspect adopted children are currently seen as second class children, as it has been throughout history, and there is less social pressure to be responsible for them.
so, in a world (hopefully changing world) where men are presented with the onus of support for the life of a minor child, maybe some rationalize adopted children as being less of a responsibility commitment/burden and an avenue to a nice exit plan, because it's easier to reject the adopted child. it isn't rational regarding the law, but finances are only a small part of parental responsibility. so it might be rational in regards to energy expenditure. lame.
and i think with the prevalence and acceptance of adoption as an option, these figures are only going to increase. my friend got himself sterilized as a prophylactic, thinking he could always adopt later. now, as i am educating him about adoption he is faced with a potential dilemma. and more and more male homosexual couples are adopting as well.
i am not personally against adoption in these cases or adoption in toto, but feel adoption should be based on an established relationship and some kind of existing connection.
i do hope Masha Allen's case puts an end to single male predators dipping in the pool of available children for sale, though...