Separation of Mothers and Newborns in the Postwar United States

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26883010
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Gender
• Research Institution: Ritsumeikan University
• Principal Investigator: Yoshida Kashimi 立命館大学, 衣笠総合研究機構, 研究員 (80736869)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-08-29 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 米国 / 養子縁組 / Safe Haven Law / 代理出産

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research examined motherhood through adoption, safe haven laws, and surrogacy, describing a history of separation of mothers and their newborns in the postwar United States. Social norms of motherhood and family were challenged by the movement toward reunion of birth parents and adoptees and by the controversy over third-party reproduction and anonymous relinquishment of infants at safe havens in America. This study criticizes the Japanese adoption system from the perspective of women’s reproductive autonomy. It is an ongoing research and its results will be published in the future.

Free Research Field

ジェンダー・児童福祉・生命倫理