Adoption Options

FactSheet 

for Families

July 2010

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children and Families

Administration on Children, Youth and Families

Children’s Bureau

Child Welfare Information Gateway

Children’s Bureau/ACYF

1250 Maryland Avenue, SW

Eighth Floor

Washington, DC 20024

800.394.3366

Email: info@childwelfare.gov

www.childwelfare.gov

There are many different types of adoption and 

choices to be made in adoption. Find information 

in this factsheet to help you understand the 

various options and determine the best route to 

building your family through adoption. 

What’s Inside:

• Map of Adoption Options

• Type of Adoption

• Domestic Adoption 

• Intercountry Adoption
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This flowchart is a map of adoption options. 

You can read straight through the factsheet 

to learn about all of your options, learning 

first about the different types of domestic 

adoption and then about intercountry 

adoption, or you can click on any of the 

boxes in the flowchart to find out about that 

specific option.

The way you choose to adopt will depend 

on what is important to your family, 

including your feelings about contact with 

birth family members, your flexibility about 

the characteristics of the child you wish to 

adopt, your resources, and how long you are 

willing to wait for your child. 

Federal legislation sets the framework 

for adoption in the United States; States 

then pass laws to comply with Federal 

requirements. Within each State, adoption 

is regulated by State laws, so you will find 

many references to “your State” in this 

factsheet. 

Military families interested in adoption 

and stationed outside their home State or 

overseas may want to read Information 

Gateway’s Military Families and Adoption: 

www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_milita.cfm 

Relatives interested in adopting a related 

infant or child may follow any of the four 

paths outlined here, depending on the 

circumstances. Specific information about 

adopting a related child can be found on the 

ACF website:

http://tinyurl.com/23z3pmn 

Map of Adoption Options

Type of Adoption

Domestic 

Adoption

Intercountry 

Adoption

Public Agency

 Licensed Private Agency Adoption

Independent Adoption

Facilitated/Unlicensed 

Agency Adoption

Hague Convention Country Adoption

Non-Hague Convention 

Country Adoption
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One of the first decisions many prospective 

adoptive parents make is whether to adopt 

a child from the United States or from 

another country. Some of the considerations 

in deciding between domestic and 

intercountry adoption include the 

importance of having access to your child’s 

medical and genetic history and how much 

contact you might want with your child’s 

birth family, now or in the future. 

Domestic Adoption

In domestic adoption, you may choose 

to work with a public agency, a licensed 

private agency, an attorney (“independent 

adoption”), or an adoption facilitator (if 

allowed by laws in your State) or unlicensed 

agency. Public and licensed private agencies 

are required to meet State standards and 

have more oversight to ensure quality 

services. Unlicensed agencies and facilitators 

often do not have the same State oversight; 

consequently, there may be more financial, 

emotional, and legal risk for adoptive and 

birth families using unlicensed services. 

Many public and private adoption agencies 

offer free orientation sessions that will allow 

you to gain an overview of their available 

services prior to making any commitment to 

work with them.

Whether you adopt an infant or an 

older child, you are likely to receive 

more extensive history and background 

information about a child who lives in the 

United States than one who lives in another 

country. Domestic adoptions make it more 

Type of Adoption

likely that you will be able to arrange 

for some degree of contact between your 

family and the child’s birth family after 

the adoption (referred to as “openness”), 

if you choose. Even if the adoption is not 

“open” (i.e., there is no contact with the 

birth family), people adopted domestically 

may have an easier time locating their birth 

families or obtaining their genetic history if 

they decide to search for that information 

later in life.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway 

publications Openness in Adoption: A 

Factsheet for Families (www.childwelfare.

gov/pubs/f_openadopt.cfm) and 

Openness in Adoption: A Bulletin for 

Professionals (www.childwelfare.gov/

pubs/f_openadoptbulletin.cfm) offer 

additional information about potential 

advantages and disadvantages of open 

adoptions.

For more information about domestic 

adoption, visit the Information Gateway 

web section on Adopting Infants 

Domestically: www.childwelfare.gov/

adoption/adoptive/domestic_adopt.cfm

Public Agency Adoption

Public agencies mainly handle the adoption 

of children in the State foster care (child 

welfare) system. Children in foster care 

have been removed from their families for 

a variety of reasons, including abuse or 

neglect, and they may have experienced 

trauma as a result. These children range in 

age from infants to teens. 
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There are many children in foster care 

waiting for adoptive families. Children ages 

8 and up, children of color, sibling groups, 

and children with disabilities are especially 

in need of adoptive families. Online 

adoption exchanges provide photolistings 

with pictures and brief descriptions of 

children in the foster care system across a 

State or region. 

• See Information Gateway’s State Adoption 

Photolisting Services Websites: www.

childwelfare.gov/pubs/reslist/rl_dsp_

website.cfm?typeID=82&rate_chno=AZ0005E 

•	 AdoptUsKids provides a national 

website featuring children available for 

adoption in the United States as well 

as information and resources about 

adopting a child from foster care: 

http://adoptuskids.org

• Also, check Information Gateway’s list 

of State Child Welfare Agency Websites

to find your local department of social 

services to learn about children in your 

area who need homes: www.childwelfare.

gov/pubs/reslist/rl_dsp_website.

cfm?rs_ID=16&rate_chno=AZ-0004E 

By asking questions, observing interactions, 

and coming to understand what is most 

important to your family, your social worker 

can work with you to determine what type 

of child or children would benefit from your 

family’s style of parenting and have their 

needs met with your family’s particular 

strengths. 

You may also want to find out about 

becoming a foster or resource family, serving 

as a child’s foster family and working with 

the agency to support the child’s return to 

his or her birth family. Sometimes a foster 

family can become a child’s permanent 

adoptive family, if the court decides 

adoption is in the child’s best interests. 

In public agency adoptions, matches 

are generally arranged by the agency, 

through a meeting of several social workers 

and supervisors and/or by a placement 

committee, based on the needs of the child 

and the ability of the family to meet those 

needs.

For more information about public agency 

adoption, visit the Information Gateway 

web section on Adopting Children From 

Foster Care: www.childwelfare.gov/

adoption/adoptive/foster_care.cfm

Licensed Private Agency Adoption

In a licensed agency adoption, the birth 

parents relinquish their parental rights to 

the agency, and adoptive parents then work 

with the agency to adopt. These agencies 

are required to adhere to licensing and 

procedural standards. 

Many prospective parents work with 

licensed private agencies in order to adopt 

healthy infants. Waiting times for infant 

adoptions vary tremendously and can be 

as long as several years or more. In the 

United States, agency criteria for prospective 

adoptive parents are often more restrictive 

for infant adoptions than for adoptions 

of older children, again because fewer 

infants are available. Many agencies allow 

birth parents to choose a prospective 

adoptive family for their child based on 

profiles, books, or videos that prospective 

families create to share information about 

themselves. Prospective parents may have 

an opportunity to meet the birth parents 
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face to face; however, social workers may 

make decisions about which families’ 

profiles are shared with expectant parents 

considering adoption, or agency staff may 

make the match of a child and prospective 

adoptive parent. In addition, agencies 

may give preference to certain types of 

individuals or couples (e.g., due to religious 

affiliation or marital status). 

The National Foster Care & Adoption 

Directory lists public and licensed 

private adoption agencies and State 

Adoption Program Managers for every 

State and the District of Columbia, 

Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

Only licensed agencies are included. 

www.childwelfare.gov/nfcad

Independent Adoption

In an independent adoption, attorneys 

assist prospective parents with the adoption 

process, which usually involves the 

adoption of an infant. Families adopting 

independently identify the expectant 

parents (or pregnant woman) without an 

agency’s help. Each family’s situation is 

different; it is impossible to predict the 

length of time you may wait for a child. 

Some adoptive parents and expectant 

mothers find each other and make a plan 

within a week, while other adoptive parents 

search for years. 

Infants usually are placed with the adoptive 

parents directly from the hospital after 

birth. While State laws differ about the 

timing of the birth parents’ consent and the 

conditions and timing of the birth parents’ 

right to revoke that consent, there is always 

the possibility that birth parents will change 

their minds when the baby is born. The 

birth parents are the child’s legal parents 

until they consent to the surrender of their 

parental rights. Information Gateway’s 

Consent to Adoption offers information on 

State laws regarding consent and revocation 

of consent: www.childwelfare.gov/

systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/consent.

cfm 

If you decide to choose independent 

adoption, you will interact with the 

expectant parents or their attorney. Birth 

parents typically provide a written consent 

for the adoption that must be approved 

by the court. Attorneys who facilitate 

independent adoptions must adhere 

to the standards of the American Bar 

Association. Some attorneys who specialize 

in adoption are members of the American 

Academy of Adoption Attorneys (www.

adoptionattorneys.org), a professional 

membership organization with standards of 

ethical practice. 

Not all States allow independent adoptions. 

The following publications provide more 

information:

• Who May Adopt, Be Adopted, or Place a 

Child for Adoption

www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_

policies/statutes/parties.cfm 

• Online Resources for State Child Welfare 

Law and Policy

www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_

policies/statutes/resources.pdf 
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• Use of Advertising and Facilitators in 

Adoptive Placements

www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_

policies/statutes/advertising.cfm 

Even when the birth mother and 

adoptive parents locate one another 

independently, they may still take 

advantage of services and/or may be 

required to have all or part of the 

process approved by a licensed agency. 

This is called “identified adoption.” The 

agency’s role is to conduct the home 

study for the adoptive parents and 

counsel the birth mother and father, 

if available.

Facilitated/Unlicensed Agency 

Adoption

Adoptive placements by facilitators and 

unlicensed agencies offer the least amount 

of supervision and oversight. A facilitator is 

any person who links prospective adoptive 

parents with expectant birth mothers for a 

fee. Facilitators may or may not be regulated 

in their State and may have varying degrees 

of expertise in adoption practice. Families 

who work with facilitators often have little 

recourse if the plan does not work out 

as they had hoped. Some States prohibit 

adoptions by paid facilitators. Check the 

adoption program or policy in your State.

For more information on facilitated 

adoption, read Information Gateway’s 

Use of Advertising and Facilitators in 

Adoptive Placements: www.childwelfare.

gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/

advertising.cfm 

Intercountry Adoption

Intercountry adoption differs in several 

significant ways from domestic adoption. 

Children eligible for intercountry adoption 

must have lost their birth parents to death 

or abandonment, or the birth parents must 

prove that they are incapable of caring 

for the children. In some cases, children 

adopted through intercountry adoption 

may have been raised in orphanages or 

institutional settings. 

There is generally less information about 

a child’s birth and family history than in 

domestic adoption. If you or your child 

have questions about the child’s birth family 

later in life, finding birth family members or 

information about them could be difficult, 

depending on the country, their adoption 

laws and policies, and the agency with 

which you work. Children adopted from 

another country, especially older children, 

will require sensitivity to their change in 

culture, including (possibly) language, food, 

customs, societal expectations, etc. 

The placement process for intercountry 

adoption varies depending on the agency 

you choose, the child’s country of origin, 

and whether or not the country is a party 

to the Hague Convention. As a child 

becomes available for adoption, he or she 

is matched by an adoption service provider 

with prospective parents who can meet 

that child’s needs. Families often have the 

opportunity to review whatever information 

is available about a child before accepting 

a placement. However, in many cases very 

little is known about the child’s medical or 

other history. Some pediatricians specialize 

in helping parents evaluate information 

found in intercountry adoption referrals. 
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See the American Academy of Pediatrics list 

of pediatricians with a special interest in 

adoption: www.aap.org/sections/adoption/

SOAFCAdoptionDirectory2.pdf 

Often, families need to travel to the 

child’s country of origin to pick up their 

child. Some countries require more than 

one trip. The State Department (http://

adoption.state.gov) provides the most 

comprehensive information regarding 

intercountry adoption, including the most 

common countries of origin. Necessary 

forms and frequently asked questions 

regarding intercountry adoption can be 

accessed through the U.S. Citizenship and 

Immigration Services Adoption webpage 

(click on Adoption in the center of the 

page): www.uscis.gov 

Information Gateway’s factsheet 

Intercountry Adoption: Where Do I Start?

offers more detailed information 

on intercountry adoption: www.

childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_inter/index.cfm 

Since the United States ratified the 

Hague Convention on Protection of 

Children and Co-operation in Respect of 

Intercountry Adoption in April 2008, a 

number of requirements have changed for 

adoptions of children from countries that 

are also party to the Hague Convention. 

The Hague Convention was enacted to 

safeguard children and families involved 

in intercountry adoption. It includes 

requirements for adoption service providers 

(agencies), home studies, parent training, 

and more. Prospective parents who decide 

to pursue an intercountry adoption need to 

decide early in the process whether they will 

adopt from a Hague Convention country or 

a country that is not a party to the Hague 

Convention, since many requirements will 

differ.

To compare requirements, services, and 

processes for Hague and non-Hague 

country adoptions, read Information 

Gateway’s Intercountry Adoption From 

Hague Convention and Non-Hague 

Convention Countries: www.childwelfare.

gov/pubs/factsheets/hague.cfm 

The U.S. Department of State also offers 

a chart of comparisons: http://adoption.

state.gov/pdf/Side_by_side_comparison.

pdf

For more information about intercountry 

adoption, visit the Information Gateway 

web section on Adopting Children From 

Another Country: www.childwelfare.gov/

adoption/adoptive/other_country.cfm 

Hague Convention Country Adoption 

Parents who adopt from a Hague 

Convention country must use the services 

of a provider that is approved or accredited 

specifically to provide Hague Convention 

adoption services. Parents will need 

to identify the desired country before 

obtaining a home study, and they will have 

to complete at least 10 hours of approved 

training. Children adopted from Hague 

Convention countries must be determined 

to be “adoptable” by their country of origin 
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and must meet the definition of a Hague 

Convention adoptee. Before entering the 

United States, the child must obtain an 

immigrant visa.

To find out if the country you are 

considering adopting from is a party to the 

Hague Convention, visit the Department 

of State website for the list of about 75 

countries: www.adoption.state.gov/hague/

overview/countries.html 

Non-Hague Convention Country 

Adoption 

Parents adopting from a non-Hague country 

may obtain a home study before choosing 

the country from which they will adopt 

as long as the home study meets State and 

Federal requirements. The adoption provider 

(agency) must be licensed in their home 

State. Parents may or may not be required 

to complete training before adopting. The 

child identified for adoption must meet the 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 

definition of “orphan” and will need to 

obtain a visa before being allowed to enter 

the United States.

Regardless of the type of adoption your 

family decides to pursue, if you are like most 

families, you may need to one day access 

services after adoption. For information 

on postadoption services, see Information 

Gateway’s Postadoption web section: www.

childwelfare.gov/adoption/postadoption