Word: greats
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...seekers sometimes hire "search consultants" and go to great lengths, even illegal ones, to find their kin. "I'm calling about a probate matter" and "I'm doing genealogy" are typical little white lies. Many justify their actions with the claim that they are victims of adoption, robbed of their heritage or shamed into giving up an illegitimate child. Their anger and desperation have led some psychologists to conclude that adoption leaves a permanent wound. "Birth parents and adoptees are amputees in our society," says Los Angeles psychologist Annette Baran, who specializes in adoption- related counseling. Says she: "I think...
Reunions are not for everyone. Some birth mothers would slam the door if their relinquished baby came knocking. In fact, the search process is the focus of a great debate in adoption circles. Critics contend that it breaks legal contracts, that confidentiality should be the cornerstone of adoption. Says a woman who gave up a child 28 years ago: "The mere thought of being found by this baby is so upsetting. I made a new life for myself, and it doesn't include...
...Chinese Communist Party took no chances last week when it staged its first press conference since last June's Tiananmen massacre. The 300 accredited Chinese and foreign journalists underwent a tight security check at the entrance to the Great Hall of the People. Inside the meeting room, those selected to ask questions were planted within easy view of the men on the dais. As the six members of the Politburo Standing Committee filed in, wearing Western business suits and fixed smiles, one stood out as the first among equals. "Good morning," Jiang Zemin said in English, waving gamely...
...stopped keeping track in 1975, though it promises to start counting again by 1991. The best estimate -- from the National Committee for Adoption in Washington -- is that there were more than 60,000 adoptions by * nonrelatives in 1986. The figure would be much higher were it not for a great and tragic irony: while adoptive parents will literally go to the ends of the earth to find healthy white, or perhaps Asian, infants, thousands of other American youngsters who are older or black or handicapped go begging for homes. In 1986 the nation's foster-care system harbored at least...
Teenagers may be especially hard hit. "When I was four or five, I used to tell everyone I was adopted," recalls Karla Kelba, 16, a blond, cheery high school junior from Fountain Valley, Calif. "I thought it was very special; the kids thought it was great. But between ten and 13, I went through some rough times. The kids wouldn't play with me. They said my mother didn't want me." There was worse to come. In a health and sex-education class, "my teacher went all off on the subject of how adopted kids are second choice...