| Abstract: | This paper argues that the increasing medicalization and geneticization of North American society may be influencing how and why adoptive families think—and worry—about their children's birthparents, their children's ‘health risks’, and about their own role as parents in genetic terms. It further discusses why these processes may be causing adoptive parents unnecessary anxieties. It suggests that family professionals and social workers should be aware of the effects of these socio‐cultural processes and of the real limitations of genetic techniques to predict, diagnose, and cure disease in order to better respond to prospective adoptive parents' need for support and information. |
