Domestic adoption, or local adoption, is the adoption of a child born in the United States. Although foreign adoptions have received a great deal of public attention in recent years, American domestic adoptions actually outnumber international adoptions, according the Adoption Guide published by Adoptive Families magazine. Children of all ages are available for domestic adoption through private adoption agencies; public agencies, such as a state-run foster care program; and independent arrangements using adoption lawyers.
Significance
A domestic adoption occurs when the biological parents of a child born in the United States legally and with full knowledge of what they are doing relinquish their parental rights to a single parent or couple who has petitioned the courts to adopt the child. This action may happen voluntarily on the part of the biological parents or because a court has terminated the parental rights of the biological parents for any number of reasons. When the adoption is finalized, the adoptive parents assume all rights and responsibilities for the social, emotional and legal well-being of the child as a new family member.
Criteria
Adoption law is imposed by the individual state in which the adoptive parents live, and each state has its own laws and procedures for handling domestic adoptions. Birthparents involved in domestic adoption have the right to establish criteria regarding the type of family that can adopt their child, and this right is often exercised in the adoption of a newborn child. This means the adoption agency or adoption lawyer working with the biological parents will screen potential adoptive parents to find those who meet the criteria. Adoptive parents themselves often have specific criteria and feelings about the age, health status and other features of the type of child they would like to adopt, along with financial considerations.
Types
In addition to private adoption of infants, domestic adoption includes kinship adoption, which is the adoption of a relative, such as a grandchild or nephew; adoption by stepparents; and adoption of older children through the foster care system. Older children often have special physical, medical or emotional needs and are sometimes members of sibling groups that need to be adopted together.
Costs
The average cost of a domestic adoption is $20,000 to $25,000 but can range from almost nothing to $40,000, depending on individual circumstances. The least-expensive adoptions are those of older children through the foster care system. Newborn adoptions are most often arranged through private adoption agencies and independent adoption attorneys. In the case of newborn adoptions, the adoptive family often pays the living and medical expenses of the birth mother during the pregnancy in addition to other legal and agency fees.
Considerations
Although biological parents and adoptive parents are often "prematched" by an attorney or representative of an adoption agency, and a relationship develops, a baby cannot be legally relinquished until it is born. For that reason, adoption facilitators usually advise prospective parents of newborns not to become too emotionally attached to a particular biological parent or her unborn child.
Because older children and children with special needs are harder to place than newborns and younger children, sometimes a reduction in fees and stipends may be available to help adoptive parents cope with the care of the children.
