Evening star., 1939-07-09
st. AIMS Infant Asylum.

was forced to visit another city, be-
cause she knew that the unmarried
mother of child born and left in
Washington was the daughter of
clergyman there. 1t was thought
better TO make the journey than to
inquire at local agencies, thereby
possibly running the lives of the girl,
her father and mother.
Figures on the residence of nat
ural mothers of 86 children adopted
i'll the District in the last year and
half reveal the Nationwide ex-
tent OF Mrs. Trevvett's job: Wash
ington, 43: Virginia. 9. Maryland,
7; New York. 4 North Carolina. 3,
Massachusetts, West Virginia. Mis-
sissippi, Pennsylvania and Michi-
gan, 2 each; Montana, Connecticut,
Utah, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio,
South Carolina, Alabama and Geor-
gia, l each, and unknown.
Additional need for legislation
supplementing the Adoption Act
because of risks involved in signing
over rights to child without Su-
pervision is illustrated by this story
of child offered for adoption from
really superior background.
From Good Stock.
An unmarried young woman re-
ceiving a masters degree here bore
child, the father being we'll
known professional man in the West.
Her brother was about to receive a
high medical degree. The grand
mother is a recognized musician
and artist and the grandfather a
high state official. In other words,
the child came from excellent stock.
This child was given recently to a
respectable family of the laboring
class, chosen hit or miss from the
top of physicians list. Very like
ly, according to Mrs. Cotton, the
child will have higher than average
intelligence and be able to benefit
by training and education he will
never receive unless he does so on
his own initiative.
"Promiscuous giving away of ba-
bies is most unfortunate, Mrs.
Cotton sums it up. Problems of
overplacement are as sad as the
problem of underplacement l have
just described. In both types of
cases there is likely to be no COM
patibility between the adopted par
ents and the child in very few
years"
1t was feared by the Division of
Child Welfare when the adoption
law went into effect that adopting
parents might object to having their
private affairs looked into, Miss
Morss says, but it was found that
they were sufficiently eager not to
mind, and adoptions have not de-
creased under the more rigid law.
However, it takes time to investi-
gate the background of persons who
are new residents of the District,
and these Investigations are an
other argument for the extension OF
the 60-day time limit in the law
Mrs. Trevvett merely checks the
work and earning records of the
adopting parents to ascertain their
capacity 10 assume additional re-
sponsibility. Education. the perma-
nency of the marriags is most essen
tial, and religious Affiliations are
asked about, the latter particularly
important since orphans left at re-
ligious charitable homes must be
placed in homes of the same faith
Many Problems.
A good many problems exist in
this matter of adoption that the eX-
perts disagree about, Mrs. Cotton
says, such as the relative Importance
of the rights of tahe natural mother
and adopting parents although, in
the eyes of the law, the rights of the
child always come first. For ex-
ample. it is always the aim of the
division, whenever possible, to leave
fatherless children with tl,eir moth
ers or place them with the mothers
relatives. This takes time, because
the mother usually bears her child
without the knowledge of her rela-
tives.
OF the homes for unmarried moth
ers run by charitable organizations
in the District, most have the policy
like the division, of trying to make
it possible for child and mother to
remain together. At the Florence
Crittenton Home expectant mothers
are permitted to enter, not with the
understanding that they keep the
child, but that they remain with the