Adoption
* Many adoptions involve newborn children.
* Most adoptions are a commitment on the part of a group or church.
* affects families in many ways.
* are also possible when the adoptive and birth parents reside in different countries.
* can involve all types of children and families
  - literally make a world of difference to a family and to a child
* choice which benefits both baby and mother far more from than does single parenting
  - andmother far more from than does single parenting
* common practice throughout the world and throughout history.
* court action to change the legal parenthood of a child.
* decision for the entire family.
* different way to build a family.
* entails a change to the legal status of a child.
* family issue.
* formal legal arrangement granted by a court.
* forms a legal parent-child relationship.
* gift of life
  - love
* increases the chances of becoming pregnant.
* involves a life-long commitment to provide a child with a loving stable home.
* involves the State making decisions as to the welfare of a child already born
  - permanent transfer of a child from one extended family member to another
* is an alternative family choice that is becoming more popular every day
  - emotional event
  - another method of fostering a family when one can no longer have children
  - approval
  - as ancient as human families
  - blessings
  - discussed among parents, children and even birth mothers
  - for the benefit of children
  - less cruel than abortion but polygamy is the biblical way to give a child a home
  - mutually beneficial to parent, child, and society
  - often the next move after birth parents have had their parental rights terminated
  - permitted by single people and increasingly by same-sex couples
  - possible for children whose parental rights have been terminated
  - primarily a child-welfare service
  - probably the only way that same-sex couples can share custody of a child
  - proceeding
* is the acceptance of an innovation by a group member
  - gift of life that builds families
  - intentional act of creating a family
  - legal process which gives a child a new and permanent family
* is the permanent legal assumption of all parental rights and responsibilities for a child
  - process of adding a child to a family
  - process through which an organization decides to acquire the systems or technology
  - solution to an unwanted pregnancy
  - very important for millions of people who are unable to have children on their own
* legal and social process that transfers all parental rights to the adoptive family
  - procedure that creates a parent-child relationship where none existed before
  - proceeding, a formality
* legal process by which a child becomes a permanent member of a new family
  - that gives a child new parents
  - which permanently gives parental rights to adoptive parents
* life long commitment on the part of the adoptive parents.
* life-giving alternative to abortion.
* loving choice that lasts a lifetime
  - option that mothers can choose
* loving, caring, responsible, and selfless act.
* means coming to age.
* method of joining a family just as birth is.
* most selfless, loving gift which benefits parents, children and families.
* often occur because one or both parents have abandoned a child.
* partnership between the adopter, the shelter and the animal.
* permanent plan for a child who has been legally freed for adoption.
* personal decision that affects the lives of all involved.
* positive event that benefits everyone involved.
* process by which families are planned and formed
  - that our society developed so that children can grow in loving surroundings
* statutory process that was unrecognized in the common law.
* tend to be more stable when a child in foster care is adopted at a younger age.
* tends to circulate parental status rather than children.
* terminates the rights, duties and responsibilities of the biological parents.
* usually ends the relationship between the child and the biological parents.
+ Foster care: Children :: Law
  * Adoption is different to foster care.