I have read with great interest the must-read and subsequent comments  
and want to throw in some recent experience of my own with the lack of  
attention to issues around adoption. Last fall I submitted an article  
for Sheila Lintott's edition "Motherhood and Philosophy" in the Wiley- 
Blackwell series of books "...and Philosophy". In the call for papers  
she suggested that anyone with an interesting topic might contact the  
series general editor, Fritz Allhoff, to see if he was interested in  
it. I emailed him with the suggestion that a volume on adoption would  
be not only appropriate but would bring out issues that have been  
pretty much ignored in philosophy. I offered suggestions on many  
topics, trying to indicate the kinds of issues the volume could address.
I was disappointed in his response, to say the least, which was  
basically: we already have volumes on motherhood and fatherhood, so  
surely that's enough to do with parenting.
I didn't pursue it, partly because of time and mostly because it  
seemed so clear that he was not seeing at all what kinds of issues  
adoption can entail, nor what kinds of philosophical discussions could  
be had.
I support Shelley's suggestion that we might do a "difficult  
discussion" around adoption, although I would like to see it not be  
limited to the issues already raised. My own concerns as an adoptive  
mother of two older  siblings who were severely abused are  quite  
different. Either way, I would strongly support any moves in the  
direction of bringing adoption issues of many types into academic view.
Melissa Burchard