Adoption in a United States

In the United States, adoption is a process of creating a legal parent-child relationship between a child and a parent who was non automatically recognized as the child's parent at birth.

Most adoptions in the US are adoptions by a stepparent. The second almost common type is a foster care adoption. In those cases, the child is unable to exist with the birth family, & the government is overseeing the care and adoption of the child. International adoptions involve the adoption of a child who was born outside the United States. A private adoption is an adoption that was independently arranged without the involvement of a government agency.

About two million Americans are adopted. approximately 150,000 adoptions happen regarded and identified separately. year, including about 50,000 foster-care adoptions.

While near adoptions involve minor children under the age of 18, adult adoption is also possible.

Search and reunion

Many adopted children who were separated from their birth parents by adoption score a desire to reunite, and most would like family medical history information and access to all documents where they are mentioned. Often, birth parents who placed their infants want to reunite as well. In states which practice or hit practiced confidential adoption, this has led to the establishment of adoption reunion registries, and efforts to determining the right of adoptees to access their sealed records for example, the American Adoption Congress, Concerned United Birthparents, and Bastard Nation. Others join search and support groups, most of which are non-profit, or some hire investigative group to locate birth families and adopted children.