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- Alternative uses: see orphan (typesetting), and orphan process in computing.
An orphan is a being, typically a human or animal child, whose parents have both died.
Half-orphans are children with one surviving parent.
Most adults beyond a certain age have lost their parents and are not generally referred to as orphans.
In certain animal species where the father typically abandons the mother and child at or prior to birth, the child will be called an orphan when the mother dies regardless of the condition of the father.
Societal treatment of human orphans
Today, in the first world, most orphaned children are cared for by adoption, or sometimes in the case of older children and minorities by foster care.
In past times, orphans often lived homeless as "street urchins", or were cared for in almshouses, orphanages, or occasionally monasteries; most modern people feel that this was a mistake, or, at the least, provided suboptimal care. In particular, almshouses were often shared with the adult homeless and the (sometimes dangerously) mentally ill in an age when many mental illnesses were incurable.
In some nations faced with war and AIDS, a significant proportion of the young population is orphaned, which is a major humanitarian crisis. In the People's Republic of China, infant daughters are sometimes abandoned due to the one child policy, which also creates a significant number of effective orphans.
Orphans typically suffer from adjustment problems related to identity, according to studies.
See also
de:Waise
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