22 JUNE 1951, Page 17

Rules of Adoption

SIR.— As it is again being publicly deplored that many children are in institutions who would be far better with private families, it seems opportune to draw attention to the rule of some of the largest adoption societies who refuse would-be adopters unless they can produce a medical certificate to say that they are incapable of having children themselves. These societies mistakenly believe that the adopted child would suffer if a brother or sister arrived to make a more normal family ; and they also ignore the fact that the relief of having acquired a child often enables conception to take place.—Yours sincerely, CHARTS U. FRANKENBURO

(Mrs. Sydney Frankenburg).

River Bank. Flat 1. Cleeve Road. Goring-on-Thames. Oxon.