Building on the efforts of our inaugural year, the Institute, over the next two years, will focus on the key ethical issues that currently impact and will continue to affect adoption in the future. The ethical aspects of the issues that traditionally have shaped adoption - the social, economic, technological, legal, and political considerations - are critical to defining the nature and scope of adoption in the future. Through work with study groups, the development of white papers, and the convening of an ethics-focused multi-disciplinary conference in 1999, the Institute will provide the field with a framework for ethically-sound policy and practice as we look to the future and the needs of children for whom adoption is the path to family.

Just as adoption has evolved as a service, posing new issues for policy and practice, the Institute will continue to expand its work, anticipating new developments and responding to new challenges. Toward that end, we welcome recommendations and feedback from the many different constituents who have an interest in our products and services in one way or another. Indeed, as an organization established to disseminate information we are equally cognizant of the value of dialogue and how much there is to be learned from each other. Please accept our sincere invitation for discourse - via mail, telephone, on-line, or in person. We look forward to hearing from you.