Examining the judicial voice from a non-legal perspective: An analysis of non-legal references by courts to the family story in cases of compulsory child adoption in Israel

► Non-legal references to family stories in adoption decisions were examined. ► Findings included emotional difficulty of judges to decide the case. ► Difficult life circumstances of biological parents. ► Judges' expressions of hope to parents. ► Bias effect depends on professionals' awareness to emotions and decision making process.