Adoption, whether formal or informal, has always been a superior method of assuring survival for children whose parents are unwilling or unable to care for them. However, adoption can also affect child development in profound ways. Data collected over the past three decades support adoption as a superior means of promoting normal development in children permanently separated from birth parents. Out of calamity and loss, children recover and progress to become functionally and emotionally competent adults. For children suffering severe neglect or abuse in early life, an adoptive family is a remarkable environment for healing emotional and physical trauma and reversing developmental deficits.