Younger cohorts (25 to 35 years old) gave more consideration to the emotional reason of just knowing there was a child waiting for them to adopt (93%), a reason in three articles in the popular press (7, 18, 73). Another emotional reason important to this younger group was having always known they would adopt a child someday (78%), a reason found in the popular press four times (11, 19, 22, 31), and once in the journals (66) (but expressed as always wanting to adopt).

No comparison was done between adopters of special needs and non -special needs children. Nearly 50% of the families with special needs children also had non-special needs adopted children. No comparison was done based on the age of the child at placement, because, of the 15 respondents who had a child placed over the mean age of 12.8 months, eleven had children who were placed at a younger age. There were several limitations to this study. First, this was a study of convenience. Adoptive parents were surveyed. This is not a random sample. In addition, the sample was taken from a support group at a private adoption agency-an agency that places infants for adoption, as well as facilitating international adoptions-especially from China. Children adopted from China tend to be young. The rest of the sample was taken from subscribers to an adoption newsletter. This newsletter is published by a woman who adopted a newborn. Her newsletter is slanted towards mothers of young children, and often has articles on infant adoption and advertisements for agencies that specialize in infant adoption. Therefore, the sample was probably biased in favor of those who adopted infants, not special needs children (especially those who adopt older children). So, it is not representative of the adoption community. Lastly, this is a small sample. Only 75 surveys were distributed. Fortunately, 77.33% were returned, which is a large percentage for survey research.

The present study showed that people adopt for emotional reasons, and which reasons are more important depend on the situation of the adoptive parents. In recruiting adoptive parents, we need to ask whether there are birth children already in the home (are they religious), how old the parents are, and if their situation might make them more amenable to international adoption (i.e. are they older and want a baby) or to special needs adoption. This information can also help us gear public awareness campaigns promoting adoption to specific segments of the population.

Further efforts in this field also should include surveys of a larger sample of adoptive parents, with the idea of reaching both infant and special needs adopters. Much of the research done so far on why people adopt seems to be concentrated on why people adopt special needs children. This may be based on the assumption that people adopt infants due to infertility. The present study suggests that infertility may be fourth on the list of reasons people adopt. This makes sense when the question, "Why don't all infertile couples pursue adoption" is asked. If infertility were the primary reason for adopting, would not all infertile couples adopt?

This then leaves a bigger question, "Why don't people adopt?" Why, with all the children available for adoption in the foster care system, and in orphanages around the world, do some people choose to consider their families complete with only birth children? Or, choose to never start families through adoption, when they are unable to have a child by birth? These are questions that need answering, if we are to find permanent homes for the children who need them. Only when we understand the why and why not, can we address those concerns and recruit adoptive parents.

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