- Adoption: A legal process in which all parental rights and responsibilities are transferred to an individual or couple who has agreed to assume. Adoption is permanent and grants a child full membership into the new family as if he were born into it. Adoption terminates all rights and responsibilities of the original parents.
- Adoption Home Study: A process where a licensed agency or approved social worker screens a prospective adoptive family to assure their readiness and acceptability as adoptive parents.
- Amended Birth Certificate: The birth certificate issued by the state to the adoptive parents that lists the adoptive parents as the adopted person's legal parents.
- Confidential Adoption (a.k.a. Closed Adoption): An adoption where only non-identifying social and medical information is exchanged between parties to an adoption through the agency or intermediary. There is no direct, ongoing relationship between the birthparents and adoptive parents.
- Consent to Adoption: The legal process in which a biological parent consents to the adoption of a child by another person or couple.
- Direct Placement Adoption: An adoption where the biological parent(s) of a child place the child for adoption directly with an adoptive couple without an adoption agency. The term is also used by some agencies to describe the practice of placing an infant directly from the hospital with an adoptive family.
- Finalization of Adoption: The legal process in which a judge approves an adoption of a child by specific parents. At finalization, adoptive parents become the parents of a child for all intents and purposes.
- Fully Disclosed Adoption (a.k.a. Open Adoption): An adoption where identifying information has been exchanged between the birthparents and the adoptive parents and there is an agreement to establish a direct, on-going relationship, although the specific level of openess can vary among families.
- The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA): Legislation stipulating conditions under which Native Americans children may be adopted. ICWA assures tribal involvement in all adoptions of children with Native American heritage.
- The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC): An agreement binding every state to track the placement of children across state lines to assure that the laws of all states involved in the transfer of children are met so children are protected.
- Kinship adoption: A legal prcoess in which the child is adopted by a relative, and usually involves a less stringent process to complete the adoption.
- Legal Risk Adoption: The placement of a child in a prospective adoptive home before the legal rights of both biological parents are terminated. If the rights of both pareties are not terminated there is the risk that the prospective adoptive parent(s) will not be able to adopt the child.
- Licensed Child Placing Agency: An agency licensed by the state to select parents and place children for the purpose of adoption.
- Mutual Consent Registry: A process that allows the sharing of identifying information between pareties of an adoption after the consent is received by all parties to the adoption.
- Putative Father: The man who is alleged to be the father of a child although he may or may not acknowledge paternity.
- Safe Haven: Laws enacted in 50 states serving as an incentive for mothers in crisis to safely relinquish their newborn babies to a safe haven where the baby will be protected and provided with medical care until a permanent home can be found. These laws generally allow the parent, or an agent of the parent, to remain anonymous and to be shielded from prosecution for abandonment or neglect in exchange for safely surrendering the baby to a safe haven (there are safe havens set up throughout the states in places such as hospital emergency room entrances).
- Termination of Parental Rights: The legal process in which a Court terminates the rights of a parent either voluntarily with the signing of a relinquishment or consent to adoption or involuntarily with a finding of unfitness, abandonment, etc.
Do you have any questions about these, or other adoption terms? Please email me and I will try to help.
2 comments:
BTW: All 50 states have now passed Baby Safe Haven laws. Just last week both Nebraska and Alaska's governors signed their laws. Hawaii passed its laws last July, and Vermont passed its law in the spring of 2006.
Now every hospital in the country is a Baby Safe Haven, and in the majority of states all staffed fire and/or police stations are also safe havens for newborns.
To date more the 1,200 newborns have been safely surrendered under the laws, and here in New England there hasn't been a newborn baby abandoned in over 13 months. First time in over 20 years for that kind of record for newborn safety.
much thanks for that important information!
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