Single-Parent Adoptions: An Overview and Some Relevant Research

This article reviews the problems and advantages of single-parent adoptions. It details the limited agency experience with such adoptions, the agency eligibility requirements in such adoptions, and the rationale for such requirements. It is noted that a principal deterrent to agency acceptance of such a procedure is the supposition that single parenthood is necessarily pathological. A review of relevant research is presented suggesting that the single-parent family is merely a variant child-rearing context and not inherently or necessarily pathogenic.