Types of Adoption
Learn about the different ways you can adopt a child.
There are quite a few different ways to bring a child into your life, or confirm your legal relationship with one, through adoption. Here’s the lowdown on the different ways that adoption can work. (To learn more about the procedures of adoption, see Adoption Procedures.)
Agency Adoptions
Agency adoptions involve the placement of a child with adoptive parents by a public agency, or by a private agency licensed or regulated by the state.
Public agencies generally place children who have become wards of the state for reasons such as orphanage, abandonment, or abuse. Private agencies are sometimes run by charities or social service organizations. Children placed through private agencies are usually brought to the agency by a parent or parents who have or are expecting a child they want to give up for adoption. For more on adoption agencies, see Nolo's article Agency Adoptions.
Independent Adoptions
In a private, or independent, adoption, no agency is involved in the adoption. Some independent adoptions involve a direct arrangement between the birth parents and the adoptive parents, while others use an intermediary such as an attorney, doctor, or clergyperson. For most independent adoptions, whether or not an intermediary is involved, the adopting parents will usually hire an attorney to take care of the court paperwork.
Most states allow independent adoptions, though many regulate them quite carefully. Independent adoptions are not allowed in Connecticut, Delaware, or Massachusetts. For more information, see Nolo's article Independent Adoptions.
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