I think there are a variety of reasons people try to go through a less regulated manner to move a child from their home. I imagine it is true in some places that if you were to relinquish a child to your local child protection services you would be scrutinized and it might place your other kids at risk. But I also know that if you did it informally without their knowledge and they then found out it could result in even more investigation. It probably depends a lot on where you live and the circumstances. Part of the problem is that once a child is placed for adoption the oversight from social services stops as the child is looked as if they were born to the parents who have adopted them. Which generally should be a good thing if the parents are the kind of people we hope they are.

But there are as we all know some horrific stories of abuse in adoptive homes, and the re-homing is just another way children are treated appallingly.

In reality, if parents are struggling whether birth or adoptive we should be figuring out how to support them to be the best parents they can be and to ensure the child gets their needs met. But we don't.