adoption affects the lives of many people in a very complex manner. this book emphasize the need for a social demographic analysis of adoption and adoption behavior in the united states. recent changes are addressed in the adoption process. these include a shift in focus from potential benefits for adopters to the best interests of the adoptees; a decrease in the domestic availability of healthy white infants, and a subsequent increase in the rate and cultural acceptance of transracial and transcultural adoptions; increases in the diversity of those interested in adopting a child; and the move from exclusively closed adoptions, in which there is no contact between the adoptive parents and the birth parents, to various forms of open adoption, in which varying degrees of communication exist. our general theme, namely, the dual function of adoption as a support system for surplus children as well as a supplier of children for infertile couples, is introduced and explored. additionally, the various types of adoption are introduced, defined, and discussed in terms of the changing face of the institution. these include formal/informal, related/unrelated, domestic/intercountry, and foster child adoptions. the intersections of these categories are considered, as well as the manner in which such a wide variety of adoption types complicates the process of keeping track of all the adoptions that occur.