Adoption has long been framed as a solution for both people seeking to build families and for children in need of homes. However, positioning adoption as a family planning tool decenters the needs of adoptees and the rights of birth parents, undermining the broader principles of reproductive justice.

The reproductive justice movement, coined by Black and Indigenous women activists in the 1990s, shifts the focus away from the concept of "choice" in reproduction, and considers context and accessibility. The focus of the reproductive justice movement is to connect rights to services, with attention paid to the impact of inequality (Ross & Sollinger, 2017). Reproductive justice advocates for the right to have children, not have children, parent children in safe, sustainable environments, and the right to sexual autonomy and gender freedom.

Adoption as a substitute for comprehensive reproductive healthcare pressures birth parents, especially those from low-income or marginalized backgrounds, into making decisions based on economic need rather than choice. Birth mothers often report they don't have economic or other resources that could create the environmental circumstances that would make relinquishment a true choice (Sisson, 2002). Reproductive justice advocates argue that access to abortion, contraception, and parenting resources is necessary to ensure people are not coerced into relinquishing their children due to poverty, lack of support or resources.

Research shows that adoptees experience unique mental health challenges compared to their non-adopted peers. Juffer and van Jzendoorn's (2005) meta-analysis found that adopted children generally show small differences in emotional and behavioral issues compared to non-adopted peers, with most adoptees being well-adjusted.

However, adopted children and adolescents are at heightened risk for mental health issues due to early life stressors, such as prenatal substance exposure, abuse, and neglect, which can........

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