Adoptee: Person who joins a family through adoption.

Adoption: A permanent, legally binding arrangement whereby persons other than birth parents parent a child.

Adoption Plan: The individual plan a particular set of birth parents make for the adoption of their child.

Adoptive Parent(s): A person(s) who becomes the permanent parent to a child. Adoptive parents have all the legal rights and responsibilities of any parent.

Birth Parent(s): The parents who gave birth to a child and subsequently placed the child for adoption, or whose parental rights have been terminated through court proceedings.

Closed or Confidential Adoption: An adoption where there is no contact between the birthparents and the adoptive parents. May also be referred to as a traditional adoption.

Disruption: Refers to any situation in which a child leaves the adoptive home prior to finalization of the adoption. This can occur when: (1) the adoptive parents choose not to finalize the adoption for reasons of their own or (2) the agency disrupts the adoption because the adoptive parents are not complying with post-placement requirements or are endangering the child in any way.

Dissolution: A disruption that occurs after the adoption has been finalized. Birth parents cannot dissolve an adoption, but adoptive parents and/or the Court may be able to.

Foster Care: A temporary arrangement in which persons other than the birth parents care for a child for a period of time. Foster parents do not have the legal rights of birth or adoptive parents. However, foster parents do have rights and responsibilities and must complete a certification process (including fingerprinting and a Child Protective Service clearance) before a foster child can be placed in their home. For more information on foster parent rights, click here [Hyperlink to “What rights do foster parents have? on FAQs page]

Foster/Adoption: A form of adoption where a child’s parental rights have been terminated or the termination process has begun and the child is placed in a home through foster care. It is presumed that the foster parents will adopt the child.

International Adoption: Any adoption in which the child and the adoptive parents are from different countries.

Kinship Adoption: A form of adoption in which the adoptive parents are biologically related to the child. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, or other relatives may participate in kinship adoption.

Open Adoption: An adoption which allows some form of association between the birth parents, adoptive parents, and the adopted child. The association can range from sharing photos and letters through an intermediary, to phone calls between families, to open contact between families.

Private (Independent) Adoption: An adoption arranged without the involvement of an agency. An adoption attorney is often involved in a private adoption.

Private Agency Adoption: An adoption handled by a private, licensed agency. Such agencies are not government sponsored, but must meet state requirements to obtain and maintain licensed status.

Public Agency Adoption: An adoption handled by the state’s Department of Human Services. The public agency is generally responsible for adoptions of older children and children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned by their birth parents in the United States.

Children with Special Needs: Adoption of children who have specific physical, medical, mental health, or emotional challenges. This category includes older children and siblings who must be placed together.

Termination of Parental Rights (TPR): A legal process in which a judge enters a decree permanently ending a birth parent’s legal parental right. This must occur before a child is considered legally freed for adoption. Termination of parental rights may be voluntary (the birth parents choose to relinquish their rights and make an adoption plan for their child) or involuntary (the legal rights of birth parents are terminated by the court without their signed consent, typically because of abandonment or repeated or severe abuse or neglect of the child).