ADOPTION

Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a

child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents, and, in so doing,
permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from the
biological parent or parents.
Adoption brings a child born to other parents into a new family. Birth parents have a
number of reasons for placing children for adoption. Overall, they want better lives for
their children than they think they can give them.
Children who are eligible for adoption come from many different settings. Some are in
foster care, a temporary home setting. Other children live in orphanages or with birth
relatives until they can be adopted. There are different kinds of adoption. Children may
be adopted by a relative or a new family. Some parents adopt children from the same
nation, and some adopt from abroad.

FORMS OF ADOPTION
Closed Adoption
A closed adoption is one where no identifying information about the birth family or the
adoptive family is shared between the two, and there is no contact between the
families. As the adoptive family, you will receive non-identifying information about the
child and birth family before he or she joins your family. After your adoption is finalized,
the records are sealed. Depending on local law and what paperwork was signed and
filed when the adoption was finalized, these records may or may not be available to the
adopted child when they reach 18.

Open Adoption
An open adoption allows for some form of association among the birth parents, adoptive
parents and the child they adopted. This can range from picture and letter sharing to
phone calls, to contact through an intermediary or open contact among the parties
themselves. Many adoptions of older children and teenagers are at least partially open
since the children may already know identifying or contact information about members
of their birth families, or may want to stay in touch with siblings placed separately.

OTHER FORMS OF ADOPTION

Agency Adoptions

Agency adoptions involve the placement of a child with adoptive parents by a public
agency, or by a private agency licensed or regulated by the state. Public agencies
generally place children who have become wards of the state for reasons such as
orphanage, abandonment, or abuse. Private agencies are sometimes run by charities or
social service organizations. Children placed through private agencies are usually
brought to the agency by a parent or parents who have or are expecting a child they
want to give up for adoption.
Independent Adoptions
This is in two forms:

Private Independent
In a private, or independent, adoption, no agency is involved in the adoption. Some
independent adoptions involve a direct arrangement between the birth parents and the
adoptive parents, while others use an intermediary such as an attorney, doctor, or
clergyperson. For most independent adoptions, whether or not an intermediary is
involved, the adopting parents will usually hire an attorney to take care of the court
paperwork. Most states allow independent adoptions, though many regulate them quite
carefully
Open Independent
An "open adoption" is an independent adoption in which the adoptive parents and birth
parents have contact during the gestation period and the new parents agree to maintain
some contact with the birth parents after the adoption, through letters, photos, or inperson visits.
Identified Adoptions
An identified, or designated, adoption is one in which the adopting parents and the birth
mother find each other and then ask an adoption agency to take over the rest of the
adoption process. The process is a hybrid of an independent and an agency adoption.
Prospective adoptive parents are spared the waiting lists of agencies by finding the birth
parent themselves, but they reap the benefits of the agency's counseling services and
experience with adoption legalities.
Step parent Adoptions
In a step parent adoption, a parent's new spouse adopts a child the parent had with a
previous partner. Step parent adoption procedures are less cumbersome than agency or
independent adoption procedures. The process is quite simple, especially if the child's
other birth parent consents to the adoption. If the other birth parent cannot be found or
if he or she refuses to consent to the adoption, there is more paperwork to do and the
adoptive parents may need an attorney
.
Same-Sex Adoptions
Rules about same-sex couples vary from state to state. In states that have some form of
recognition for same-sex relationships, same-sex couples may adopt children together
and one partner may adopt the child of the other partner. In some states, the adoption

can be done under the streamlined stepparent adoption procedures, making the process
inexpensive, quick, and easy
.
Relative (Kinship) Adoptions
In a relative adoption, also called a kinship adoption, a member of the child's family
steps forward to adopt. Grandparents often adopt their grandchildren if the parents die
while the children are minors, or if the parents are unable to take care of the children for
other reasons (such as being in jail or on drugs). In most states, these adoptions are
easier than non-relative adoptions. If the adopted child has siblings who are not adopted
at the same time, kinship adoption procedures usually provide for contact between the
siblings after the adoption.
Adult Adoptions
In most states, it's legal for one adult to adopt another as long as there's at least a tenyear age difference and the parties can show why the adoption is in the interests of both
the parties involved and the public good. Often, adult adoptions are stepparent
adoptions that the family didn't get around to when the younger person was a minor, but
wants to complete in order to assure inheritance rights.
Sometimes, older adults who don't have children of their own meet younger persons who
they wish to treat as their children for inheritance purposes. There are protections in
place in many states requiring oversight of adult adoptions where caregivers of the
elderly are involved, in order to prevent elder financial abuse.