204 Heredity and Child Culture 



The Illegitimate Child 



What is to become of the illegitimate child? 

 Is one way better than another in dealing with 

 this difficult question? The extent of the prob- 

 lem varies in different countries and districts. 

 Infants bom out of wedlock reach from three 

 to twelve per cent, of all births in civilized coun- 

 tries. There is a yearly average of 32,000 ille- 

 gitimate births among the white population of 

 the United States. They do not differ much, 

 if any, from other infants except that they 

 present a higher death rate. This is because 

 of lack of proper care, which the deserted 

 mothers are not able to give. In many cases 

 these babies are unusually well formed and at- 

 tractive. 



Most agencies and institutions handling these 

 cases recommend that the mother keep the baby 

 on the ground that her character will be stabil- 

 ized by love for her child. While this is doubt- 

 less true in some cases, I believe, under present 

 social conditions, it is wiser as a rule to sepa- 

 rate them and have the child adopted into a 



