This work looks at the history of adoption in American society and reveals how the practice and attitudes about it have evolved from colonial days to the 1990s. The author argues that it is ever more apparent that secrecy and disclosure are the defining issues in American adoptions. He discovers that openess used to be the norm before World War II and that this ceased due to a convergence of several unusual cultural, demographic, and social trends. From this American's feelings about biological kinship versus socially constructed families are analyzed, as well as the stigma of adoption - used at times to promote openess and secrecy. Finally suspect psychoanalytic concepts such as genetic bewilderment, and bogus medical terms, such as adopted child syndrome, that paints all parties of adoption as psychologically damaged are examined.