Population and the American Future: The Report Of the Commission on Population Growth and The American Future; John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Chairman, March 27, 1972
children born in wedlock. Such cases include those where the father has contributed to the support of the child or has been decreed by a court to be the child’s father. Other, more subtle forms of discrimination are also slowly being eliminated. Several states prohibit any statement on a birth certificate as to whether a child is born in or out of wedlock, or as to the marital status of the mother. There is no justifiable reason to discriminate between children according to the circumstances of their birth. The word “illegitimate� and the stigma attached to it have no place in our society.* * A separate statement by Commissioner John N. Erlenborn appears on page 154.
The Commission recommends that all children, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, be accorded fair and equal status socially, morally, and legally. The Commission urges research and study by the American Bar Association, the American Law Institute, and other interested groups leading to revision of those laws and practices which result in discrimination against out-of-wedlock children. Our end objective should be to accord fair and equal treatment to all children. Adoption One consequence of unwanted childbearing, especially out-of-wedlock births, has been an increase in the number of children available for adoption. In 1969, there were 171,000 children adopted, roughly two-thirds of whom were born out of wedlock. However, in the same year, nearly half a million children lived in foster homes, group homes, or child welfare institutions.14 It has been asserted that increased adoption might lower the birthrate. Had all the children in foster homes and institutions been adopted, the total number of adoptions in 1969 would have reached over half a million. If each of these children had represented a birth averted, the total reduction in the birthrate might conceivably have reached 18 percent. This would be a onetime effect, however, because the large number represents an accumulation of unadopted children over many years.
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