ABSTRACT
Child adoption is a subject which captures the imagination and a good deal has been written about it in recent years. Much of this has been based on a personal experience of adopting or being adopted, but some of it has been written after long experience of placing children for adoption or as the result of research. The research has tended to be concerned with the relative importance of heredity and environment, the development and adjustment of adopted children and the isolation of factors important in predicting success or failure in adoption. With a few exceptions the research has taken place while the children were still young, usually before adolescence. Research involving adult adoptees is still quite limited.
