Download or read book Legitimating Life written by Sonja van Wichelen and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2018-11-14 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sonja van Wichelen boldly describes how contemporary justifications of cross-border adoption navigate between child welfare, humanitarianism, family making, capitalism, science, and health. Focusing on contemporary institutional practices of adoption in the United States and the Netherlands, she traces how professionals, bureaucrats, lawyers, politicians, social workers, and experts legitimate a practice that became progressively controversial.