ADOPTION

The act of one who takes another's child into his own family, treating him as his own, and giving him all the rights and duties of his own child. A juridical act creating between two per- sons certain relations, purely civil, of pater- nity and filiation. 6 Demol. § 1.

The act by which a per- son takes the child of another into his family, and treats him as his own. A juridical act creating between two per- sons certain relations, purely civil, of pater- nity and filiation. 6 Demolombe, § 1. tus. Adoption was practised in the remotest antiquity, and was established to console those who had no children of their own. Cicero asks, "Quod est jus adoptionis? nempe ut is adoptat, qui neque procre- are jam liberos possit, et cum potuerit, sit exper At Athens, he who had adopted a son was not at liberty to marry without the permission of the magistrates. Gaius, Ulpian, and the Institutes of Justinian only treat of adoption as an act creating the paternal power. Originally, the object of adoption was to introduce a person into the family and to acquire the paternal power over him. The adopted took the name of the adopter, and only preserved his own adjectively, as Scipio Emili- anus: Cassar Octavianus, etc. According to Cicero, adoptions produced the right of succeeding to the name, the property, and the lares: "hereditates nominis, pecunia, sacrorum secutæ sunt;" Pro Dom. $5 13, 35. The first mode of adoption was in the form of a law passed by the comitia curiata. Afterwards, it was effected by the mancipatio, alienatio per cæs et Horam, and the in jure cessio; by means of the first the paternal authority of the father was dissolved, and by the second the adoption was completed. The mancipatio was a solemn sale made to the emptor in presence of five Roman citizens (who represented the five classes of the Roman people), and a lib- ripena, or scalesman, to weigh the piece of copper which represented the price. By this sale the per- son sold became subject to the mancipium of the purchaser, who then emancipated him; whereupon he fell again under the paternal power; and in or- der to exhaust it entirely it was necessary to repeat the mancipatio three times: si pater filium ter ven- umdabit, Alius a patre liber esto. After the pater nal power was thus dissolved, the party who de- sired to adopt the son instituted a fictitious suit against the purchaser who held him in mancipium, alleging that the person belonged to him or was subject to his paternal power; the defendant not denying the fact, the prætor rendered a decree ac- cordingly, which constituted the cessio in jure, and completed the adoption. Adoptantur autem, cum a parente in cujus potestate sunt, tertia mancipa- tione in jure ceduntur, atque ab eo, qui adoplat, apud eum apud quem legis actio est, vindicantur; Gell. 5. 19. Towards the end of the Republic another mode of adoption had been introduced by custom. This was by a declaration made by a testator, in his will, that be considered the person whom he wished to adopt as his son: In this manner Julius Cæsar adopted Octavius. It is said that the adoption of which we have been speaking was limited to persons alieni juris. But there was another species of adoption, called adro- gation, which applied exclusively to persons who were sui juris. By the adrogation a pater-familias, with all who were subject to his patria potestas, as well as his whole estate, entered into another family, and became subject to the paternal authority of the chief of that family. Quæ species adoptionis dici- tur adrogatio, quia et is is qui adoptat rogatur, id est interrogatur, an an velit eum quem adopturus rus sit jus- tum sibi flium esse; et is, qui adoptatur rogatur an id feri patiatur; et populus rogatur an id flert jubeal: Gaius, 1. 90. The formulse of these inter- rogations are given by Cicero, in his oration pro Dom. 20: "Velitis, jubeatis, Quirites, uti Lucius Valerius Lucio Titio tam jure legeque filius sibi siet, quam si ez co patre matreque familias ejus natus met, utique eo vitæ necisque in eum potestas siet uti pariendo Alio est; hoc ita ut dizi vos, Quirites rogo." This public and solemn form of adoption remained unchanged, with regard to adrogation, until the time of Justinian: up to that period it could only take place populi auctoritate. Accord- ing to the Institutes, 1. 11. 1, adrogation took place by virtue of a rescript of the emperor, principali rescripto, which only issued causa cognita; and the ordinary adoption took place in pursuance of the authorization of the magistrate, imperio magistra- tua. The effect of the adoption was also modified in such a manner, that if a son was adopted by a stranger, extranea persona, he preserved all the family rights resulting from his birth, and at the same time acquired all the family rights produced by the adoption. In the United States, adoption is regu- lated by the statutes of the several states. See 1 Am. & Eng. Enc. of Law, 204-207. In Louisiana, where the civil law prevails, it was abolished by the Code of 1808, art. 85, p. 50. See 13 La. Ann. 517. In many of the continental states of Europe it is still permitted under various restrictions. When an infant child has been released to another, such release is not revocable without suffici

See Adoptio.

The act of adopting, or state of being adopted; voluntary acceptance of a child of other parents to be the same as one's own child. Admission to a more intimate relation; reception; as, the adoption of persons into hospitals or monasteries, or of one society into another. The choosing and making that to be one's own which originally was not so; acceptance; as, the adoption of opinions. Jer. Taylor.

The act of adopting. | The state of being adopted; the acceptance of a child of other parents as if they were one's own child. | An admission to an institution, for example a hospital, clinic, mental asylum. | The choosing and making that to be one's own which originally was not so; acceptance. | The choosing and making that to be one's own which originally was not so; acceptance. | The act of accepting and putting into effect or practice (a method, proposal, technique, etc.) | The transfer from an old system to another (usually better) system. | An act of divine grace by which the redeemed in Christ are admitted to the privileges of the sons of God. | Ten consecutive wins against an opponent.