Abstract

Adopting children born from others is a widespread practice in all known societies, which has raised theoretical and analytical questions about the meaning and role of kinship. The action of the Western adoptive device and its distinctive features – transnational/transracial transfer, clean break and sealing of origin ties, and one-way flow – stimulated many studies. By reviewing ethno-anthropological research, this article proposes a dialogic and diachronic reflection on the historical-cultural experience of globalized adoption, on the transformations of today’s adoptive kinship and its connection with other forms of social kinship, and their future.