Babies, older children, handicapped, and children of all races and
backgrounds are in need of adoption. In the past most people wanted only babies
that were to be adopted shortly after birth. Today, a greater number of older
children, handicapped children, and children of other races are being adopted.
In the United States,
over 140,000 children are adopted each year. About half of these children are
adopted by other family members such as a grandparent, stepparent, or other
relative. The other half of these children are adopted by people unrelated to
them.
Adoption Procedure
Most adoptions take place through social agencies. Social agencies are
responsible for planning adoptions and selecting adoptive parents. These social
agencies are established and supported by people in a community or by state
governments. These agencies are known as child-welfare agencies or family and
children’s services.
An adoption service’s purpose is to help children, birth parents, and
adoptive parents. Social workers with special training, skills, and experience
deal with everyone involved. Social workers also work with physicians,
psychologists, and lawyers to find the best home for the child. They also help
the adoptive parents through all the legal processes that are necessary to
complete the adoption.
Legal Process
Each country and each state within the United
States has laws that say how a child can be
taken from one family relationship and placed into a new family relationship.
These laws have certain procedures that must be followed in order to protect
everyone involved, especially the child.
A judge must decide whether a parent-child relationship should be broken. A
judge will also grant an adoption decree to make the adoption legal and final.
After an adoption has been arranged, the adoptive parents go to court and
ask for custody of the child. The child must live with the adoptive parents for
a specified period of time. Then a judge will determine whether the adoption
will benefit the child.
When an adoption is final, a new birth certificate is issued with the names
of the adoptive parents.