The following was reprinted in part with permission of The Florida Bar. This pamphlet has been prepared to help you understand the adoption laws and procedures and to find a child for adoption in a safe way. Adoption laws and procedures in Florida reflect the interests of the State and the community in protecting the child, the birth parents, and the adoptive parents in adoption proceedings. Adoption is the legal procedure by which a child becomes, through court action, part of a family other than that of his or her birth parents.
Adoption is a serious matter for all concerned.
It determines the entire future of the child because it permanently severs ties with his or her birth parents and relatives and transfers the child into a new family where he or she will remain until grown. The new family is responsible to provide the child with the care and guidance necessary in life and that will determine the kind of adult he or she will become. To the birth parents, adoption usually means relinquishing the child forever without the privilege of seeing the child or being otherwise involved in the child's life. Additionally, the birth parents are permanently relieved of all responsibilities of the child's care and financial needs. To the adoptive parents, adoption means providing for and undertaking the care of a child who will have the same obligations as to a child naturally born to them.