ADOPTIONAdoptionis a process whereby a person assumes theparentingof another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents, and, in so doing, permanently transfers allrightsand responsibilities, along withfiliation, 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 ADOPTIONClosed AdoptionAclosed adoptionis 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 AdoptionAnopen adoptionallows 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, ormay want to stay in touch with siblings placed separately.

OTHER FORMS OF ADOPTION

Agency AdoptionsAgency 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 aresometimes run by charities or social service organizations. Children placed through private agencies are usually brought to the agency bya parent or parents who have or are expecting a childthey want to give up for adoption.Independent Adoptions This is in two forms:

Private IndependentIn 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 thenew parents agree to maintain some contact with the birth parents after the adoption, through letters, photos, or in-person visits.

Identified AdoptionsAn 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 AdoptionsIn 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 andthe adoptive parents may need an attorney.Same-Sex AdoptionsRules 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) AdoptionsIn 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 AdoptionsIn most states, it's legal for one adult to adopt another as long as there's at least a ten-year 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.