Common Adoption Terms

Adoption: a legal process in which parental rights of a child are granted to adoptive parents.
 
Adoptee: a person who is legally placed with an adoptive family.
 
Adoption Agency: a licensed organization that provides services in which to place children with families or individuals who are approved for adoption by the proper authority.
 
Adoption Attorney: a professional who handles the necessary legal functions involved with the placement of children with families or individuals who are approved for adoption. In most instances, attorneys are able to provide additional adoption related services such as re-adoption.
 
Adoption Certificate / Decree: also known as the Certificate of Adoption, this is the document that is signed by the presiding Judge upon finalization of the adoption. This official document allows for a new birth certificate to be issued for the adopted child by the appropriate authority. This new birth certificate will reflect the child's new information (name, adoptive parents, etc.) and will replace the original birth certificate.
 
Adoption Facilitator: a person or organization that assists prospective adoptive parents and/or adoption agencies in finding adoptable children. Not all facilitators are required to have a license - it is all dependent upon where they do business.
 
Adoptive Parent: an individual who is granted parental rights for a child through a proper legal channel.
 
Apostille: an apostille is used to confirm the authenticity of the signature on a particular document, that the notary is a valid notary for the state indicated, and identifies any seals and/or stamps. It is most often used in countries that are Hague compliant.
 
Birthfather: any man that is the biological father of a child that is given up for adoption.
 
Birthmother: any woman that is the biological mother of a child that is given up for adoption.
 
Caseworker / Social Worker: individuals that assist birthparents and/or adoptive parents with their adoption process. They are responsible for many things throughout the process such as completing home studies and counseling.
 
Certification: the process used to legitimately authenticate official documents. This typically requires that a seal or apostille (see above term) be affixed to the document in the manner that is specifically required by law or regulation to confirm its authenticity.
 
Closed / Confidential Adoption: an adoption in which neither the adoptive parents nor the birthparents have any identifying information regarding each other.
 
Consent Form: the legal document signed by birthparents that terminates their parental rights over their child.
 
Consulate Registration: when a child is adopted internationally, they are required to be registered with the Consulate of their birth country.
 
Dear Birthmother letter: prospective adoptive parents often write a letter of introduction for birthparents. It usually discusses their lifestyle, hopes, religion, and any other topics they feel a birthparent might want to know about them.
 
Disruption: there are two instances in which an adoption can be disrupted:

1. For whatever reason an adoption has not become final, even though the adoptive parents were identified as the parents to adopt the child and the child may have even been placed in their home for a period of time.
2. Any failed adoption attempt.

Dissolution: an overturning or termination of an adoption after it has become legal. This can occur for a number of reasons; the two most common are:

1. It turns out that there was not a good match between the child's needs and the capabilities of the adoptive family.
2. The circumstances of the child and/or the adoptive family changed drastically after the adoption became legal, which makes for an unbearable relationship between the child and the adoptive family.

Dossier: in international adoption, this refers to a set of required legal documents that are used to process the adoption of a child in its own country by adoptive parents. In some cases, it is used for the adoptive parents so that they may be granted legal custody or guardianship of the child in the foreign court, in order for the child to be brought by the adoptive parents to the U.S. for adoption.
 
Finalization: the stage in the adoption process when the court awards the Petition to Adopt to the adoptive parents. For international adoption, finalization means that the judge has granted the adoptive family parental rights to the child - the adoption is finalized.
 
Form I-600 and Form I-600A Visa Petitions: standard forms used to request that the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) categorize an orphan in a foreign country as an immediate relative of its intended adoptive parents, in order to issue a visa to that child, allowing it to enter into the U.S.
 
Hague (Hague Convention on International Adoptions): an international agreement that includes over 35 countries, including the U.S., that set standards and procedures to protect children involved in inter-country adoptions. It is also set up to protect the interests of their birth and adoptive parents in the participating countries. The agreement is designed to discourage "black markets" and to ensure that inter-country adoptions are completed with the best interests of the children in mind.
 
Home Study: the in-depth review prospective adoptive parents must go through to be able to legally adopt. A home study typically includes evaluations of the adoptive parents' relationship, inspections of their residence, parenting ideals, medical history, employment verification, financial status, and criminal background checks.
 
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS): a federal agency that is governed by the U.S. Department of Justice and handles the immigration of all foreign-born persons into the U.S. Before a foreign adoption can even take place, the INS must authorize the foreign child to be allowed to enter the U.S. for the purpose of adoption. This is done by completing Form I-600 and I-600A.
 
Identifying Information: information regarding birthparents, adoptive parents, or an adopted child that discloses (or could possibly lead to the discovery of) the identity of any of these individuals. Examples of identifying information are last name, address, phone number, date of birth, or social security number.
 
International Adoption Specialist: a medical professional that is experienced and familiar with children who are orphaned and/or abandoned. For international adoptions, most U.S. pediatricians don't know what is common for a child that has spent time in an orphanage or institution.
 
International / Inter-Country Adoption: the adoption of a child by adoptive parents of another country. In the U.S. this refers to U.S. citizens adopting children from Russia, China, Ukraine, etc.
 
Matching: the process of combining the best interest of the child with qualified adoptive parents. The best interest of the child is determined by the birthparent or legal guardian of the child.
 
Non-Identifying Information: secondary information that is made available to adoption-related parties that does not include identifying information.
 
Open Adoption: birthparents and adoptive parents in the process of an adoption are given information that could be used to identify them.
 
Orphan: a child in a foreign country who has no living parents, or whose parents have disappeared or abandoned the child. In order for a child to be able to be brought into the U.S. for the purpose of adoption, the child must legally be an "orphan."
 
Orphanage: institution in a foreign country where children are placed because they are orphaned, abandoned, or their parents are unable to care for them.
 
Parental Rights: all legal rights and corresponding legal obligations that come with being the legal parent of a child.
 
Petition to Adopt: in the U.S., this is an official document that is filed with the court to commence the act of adoption.
 
Photolisting: any form of publication that includes photos and/or descriptions of adoptable children.
 
Placement: describes the point in time when the child goes to live with his/her legal adoptive parents.
 
Placing Country: in international adoption, this refers to the country where the adoptive family resides and where the child resides once the adoption is complete.
 
Post-Placement Supervision: upon placement, a caseworker will be assigned to complete post-placement supervision of the adoptive family. The caseworker will visit the home several times during a set period of time (according to state requirements) to determine if adoption of the child was in the "best interests of the child."
 
Prospective Adoptive Parent (PAP): an individual or family that wishes to adopt a child and is somewhere in the process (selecting an agency, completing their home study, etc.).
 
Re-Adoption: when adoptive parents go through the process of adopting a foreign child in the U.S. after it has already been finalized in the foreign country. This is in order for the child to obtain a U.S. birth certificate, showing the adoptive parents to be the legal parents.
 
Relinquishment: when a birthparent voluntarily forfeits his or her parental rights to a child. The parental rights are typically transferred to an agency, rather than directly to the new adoptive parents.
 
Revoke Consent: the decision by a birthparent to rescind their consent for the termination of their parental rights.
 
Sending Country: in international adoption, this refers to the country where the adoptive family adopts their child from.
 
Special Needs Adoption: an adoption where it is known or suspected that the child may have a significant disability of some sort.
 
Termination of Parental Rights: when birthparents sign a consent form to terminate parental rights to their child. This ends all legal rights and responsibilities of the birthparents for that child.
 
Visa: indicates that an application that was filed by the adoptive parents has been reviewed by a Consular officer of the country's embassy or consulate, and that the officer has determined that they are eligible to enter the country for a specific purpose.