I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6220 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize unlawful adoption 

practices. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 3, 2023 

Ms. KUSTER (for herself, Mr. LAMBORN, and Mr. ADERHOLT) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize 

unlawful adoption practices. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Adoption Deserves 

5 Oversight, Protection, and Transparency Act of 2023’’ or 

6 the ‘‘ADOPT Act of 2023’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

8 The purpose of this Act is to: 


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1 (1) Protect individuals and families impacted by 

2 private domestic adoption from exploitation by unli3 censed adoption intermediaries. 

4 (2) Ensure that individuals seeking assistance 

5 with domestic adoption have ready access to licensed 

6 and regulated adoption providers in their commu7 nities. 

8 (3) Prevent the commodification of children. 

9 SEC. 3. ADOPTION OFFENSE. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11A of title 18, United 

11 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘§ 228A. Unlawful adoption practices 

14 ‘‘(a) ADOPTION INTERMEDIARY SERVICES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) OFFENSE.—Whoever, in any circumstance 

16 described in subsection (d), knowingly provides or 

17 offers to provide adoption intermediary services shall 

18 be punished as provided in accordance with sub19 section (e). 

20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

21 apply to— 

22 ‘‘(A) a public child-placing agency; 

23 ‘‘(B) a private licensed child-placing agen24 cy; or 

25 ‘‘(C) a licensed attorney. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ADOPTION ADVERTISING.— 

2 ‘‘(1) OFFENSE.—Whoever, in any circumstance 

3 described in subsection (d), knowingly places an 

4 adoption advertisement shall be punished in accord5 ance with subsection (e). 

6 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

7 apply to— 

8 ‘‘(A) a public child-placing agency or pri9 vate licensed child-placing agency licensed to 

10 provide services in the State wherein the adver11 tisement appears; 

12 ‘‘(B) an attorney licensed in the State 

13 wherein the advertisement appears; or 

14 ‘‘(C) an adoption service provider accred15 ited or approved in accordance with the Inter16 country Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 1490 

17 note) advertising an intercountry adoption pro18 gram. 

19 ‘‘(c) UNAUTHORIZED PAYMENTS TO OR ON BEHALF

20 OF A PLACING PARENT.— 

21 ‘‘(1) OFFENSE.—Whoever, in any circumstance 

22 described in subsection (d), knowingly provides any23 thing of value, including money, property, or serv24 ices, whether payment is made directly or indirectly 

25 for the benefit of the placing parent in furtherance 


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1 of an adoption in an amount exceeding $500, shall 

2 be punished in accordance with subsection (e). 

3 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

4 apply with respect to payments made by or in co5 operation with— 

6 ‘‘(A) a private child-placing agency li7 censed in the State where the placing parent re8 sides or is located; or 

9 ‘‘(B) an attorney licensed in the State 

10 where the placing parent resides or is located. 

11 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—For the purposes of sections 

12 (a), (b), and (c), the circumstances described in these sub13 sections are that— 

14 ‘‘(1) the offender or victim traveled in inter15 state commerce, or traveled using a means, channel, 

16 facility, or instrumentality of interstate commerce, in 

17 furtherance of or in connection with the conduct de18 scribed in subsections (a), (b), or (c); 

19 ‘‘(2) the offender used a means, channel, facil20 ity, or instrumentality of interstate commerce in fur21 therance of or in connection with the conduct de22 scribed in subsections (a), (b), or (c); 

23 ‘‘(3) any payment of any kind was made, di24 rectly or indirectly, in furtherance of or in connec25 tion with the conduct described in subsections (a), 


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1 (b), or (c) using any means, channel, facility, or in2 strumentality of interstate commerce or in or affect3 ing interstate commerce; 

4 ‘‘(4) the offender transmitted in interstate com5 merce any communication relating to or in further6 ance of the conduct described in subsections (a), (b), 

7 or (c) using any means, channel, facility, or instru8 mentality of interstate commerce or in or affecting 

9 interstate commerce by any means or in manner, in10 cluding by computer, mail, wire, or electromagnetic 

11 transmission; or 

12 ‘‘(5) the conduct described in subsection (a) 

13 otherwise occurred in or affected interstate or for14 eign commerce. 

15 ‘‘(e) PENALTY.—Whoever violates subsection (a), (b), 

16 or (c)— 

17 ‘‘(1) in the case of an individual, shall be fined 

18 $100,000, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or 

19 both, per violation; or 

20 ‘‘(2) in the case of an organization, shall be 

21 fined $250,000 per violation. 

22 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec23 tion may be construed to affect the application of the In24 dian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) 

25 or limit the provision of intercountry adoption programs 


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1 and services authorized under the Intercountry Adoption 

2 Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14921). 

3 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) ADOPTION ADVERTISING.—The term 

5 ‘adoption advertising’ means a paid advertisement, 

6 article, notice, or other paid communication pub7 lished in any newspaper, magazine, or on the inter8 net, on a billboard, over radio or television, or other 

9 similar media that— 

10 ‘‘(A) solicits prospective adoptive parents 

11 for the purpose of acting as a link between a 

12 placing parent and a prospective adoptive par13 ent, or the prospective adoptive parent’s rep14 resentative, attorney, or agency, for the transfer 

15 of legal or physical custody of a child, including 

16 adoptive placement; 

17 ‘‘(B) solicits placing parents for the pur18 pose of acting as a link between a placing par19 ent and a prospective adoptive parent, or the 

20 prospective adoptive parent’s representative, at21 torney, or agency, for the transfer of legal or 

22 physical custody of a child, including adoptive 

23 placement; or 

24 ‘‘(C) offers to pay a placing parent’s living 

25 expenses in connection with any transfer or poVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:23 Nov 11, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6220.IH H6220

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1 tential transfer of legal or physical custody of 

2 a child, including adoptive placement. 

3 ‘‘(2) ADOPTION INTERMEDIARY SERVICES.— 

4 The term ‘adoption intermediary services’ means the 

5 provision of any of the following services, in ex6 change for direct or indirect compensation: 

7 ‘‘(A) Soliciting placing parents, whether 

8 through adoption advertising or other means, 

9 for the purposes of acting as a link between a 

10 placing parent and a prospective adoptive par11 ent, or the prospective adoptive parent’s rep12 resentative, attorney, or agency, for the transfer 

13 of legal or physical custody of their child, in14 cluding adoptive placement. 

15 ‘‘(B) Soliciting prospective adoptive par16 ents, whether through adoption advertising or 

17 other means, for the purpose of acting as a link 

18 between a placing parent and a prospective 

19 adoptive parent, or the prospective adoptive 

20 parent’s representative, attorney, or agency, for 

21 the transfer of legal or physical custody of a 

22 child, including adoptive placement. 

23 ‘‘(C) Acting as a link between placing par24 ents of a child and prospective adoptive parents, 

25 whether directly or through the prospective 


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1 adoptive parents’ representative, agency, or at2 torney, for the purpose of the transfer of phys3 ical or legal custody of the child, including 

4 adoptive placement. 

5 ‘‘(3) PLACING PARENT.—The term ‘placing 

6 parent’ means a parent with legal authority to place 

7 the child for adoption. 

8 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC CHILD-PLACING AGENCY.—The 

9 term ‘public child-placing agency’ means any govern10 ment child welfare agency or child protection agency 

11 that has the legal authority to place children for 

12 adoption. 

13 ‘‘(5) PRIVATE LICENSED CHILD-PLACING AGEN14 CY.—The term ‘private licensed child-placing agency’ 

15 means a licensed or State approved agency that has 

16 the legal authority to place children for adoption.’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (1) CHAPTER HEADING.—The chapter heading 

19 for chapter 11A of title 18, United States Code, is 

20 amended by inserting ‘‘AND UNLAWFUL 

21 ADOPTION PRACTICES’’ after ‘‘CHILD 

22 SUPPORT’’. 

23 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 

24 for chapter 11A of title 18, United States Code, is 


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1 amended by adding after the item relating to section 

2 228, the following: 

‘‘228A. Unlawful adoption practices.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

5 on the date that is 120 days after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act. 

Æ 


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