Christian Adoption Service

Adoptee

Any person who has been adopted.

Adoption

Legal process where parental rights are transferred from birth parents to adoptive parents.

Adoption Agency

Organization placing children in homes, under the jurisdiction of state or licensing laws.

Adoption Plan

A plan created between a birth mother and a social worker specifying all aspects and desires with regards to an adoption.

Adoptive Parent

Person(s) who legally assume parental rights/responsibilities for adopted child.

Agency Placement

Completion of an adoption.

Bi-Racial

Refers to a child that has heritage of 2 races, usually African-American and another race.

Biological Child

The child of parents by birth.

Birth Certificate (amended)

Legal document after the adoption is finalized, replacing the original birth certificate, as indicated by the court in the adoption decree, with the adoptive parents’ names replacing the birth parents’ names.

Birth Certificate (original)

Legal document issued at time of birth with the child’s biological history including the identity of one or both biological parents.

Birth Father

Biological father of a child that is adopted or planning to be adopted.

Birth Mother

Biological mother of a child that is adopted or planning to be adopted.

Closed Adoption

Adoption in which confidentiality of both adoptive parents and birth parents are protected under the law, the courts seal all records.

Consent Form

The legal document signed by the biological mother and father allowing their child to be placed for adoption. If birth parent is unavailable, the courts can validate the consents without the birth parents’ signature. (a consent is also referred to as a surrender or relinquishment)

Custody

Authority by a person or guardian embodying all of the rights and responsibilities.

Developmental Disability

Any handicapping condition related to delays in maturation of or difficulties with skills or intellect.

Direct Placement

This occurs when waiting families receive the infant immediately after discharge from the hospital.

Disruption

An adoption or potential adoption that fails before finalization.

Domestic Adoption

The adoption of a child who is born in the United States.

Dossier

The collection of paperwork used in an international adoption that has been properly authenticated and translated.

Final Adoption Decree

Legal document issued by the court that completes the adoption.

Finalization

Court action that grants permanent legal custody of a child to the adoptive parents.

Home Study

A series of interviews, both joint and individual, and a home visit that are part of the pre-adoption process for adoptive families.

Independent Adoption

An adoption where the child is placed directly with the adoptive couple, usually through an intermediary, without pre-adoption counseling for the birthparents or adoptive couple.

Indian Child Welfare Act

Federal Act designed to protect the interest of Indian children and tribes.

International Adoption

Adoption of a child born outside of the United States.

Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children

Rhe legal compact between states that allows for the placement of children for adoption across state lines.

Legal Guardian

Any person who can make legal decisions for a minor child.

Legal Risk Placement

The placement of a child into a family when birthparents’ rights have not yet been legally terminated or when rights have been severed but the appeal period has not expired.

Minority Children

Children of partial or full non-Caucasian parentage, or mixed Caucasian and non-Caucasian heritage.

Non-Identifying Information

The medical and social history along with other information exchanged between birth parents and adoptive parents without using names, addresses or other identifying information of both parties.

Open Adoption

Usually, an adoption where birth parents and adoptive parents meet, names and addresses may be exchanged and communication may continue indefinitely.

Orphan

Child from another country that has no parents or only one parent that cannot care for them.

Petition

Written request to the court for legal custody, guardianship and/or adoption of a child.

Preplacement Counseling

Counseling provided to prepare birthparents for the release of their child and to prepare couples for adoptive parenthood.

Profile

Pictures and information that introduce a prospective adoptive family to birthparents.

Post-Placement Visits

Investigation and interviews with an adoptive family once a child has been placed with them.

Re-Adoption

process by where international adoptive parents adopt their children for a second time in front of a U.S. judge.

Relinquishment

Legal act by which birth parents consent to an adoption and give up all legal rights to a child so an adoption can take place.

Revoke

Take back consent to an adoption. Some states offer no time for revocation while other states place a time limit.

Social Worker/Case Worker

Person who completes home studies, works with birth parents and adoptive families in adoption situations.

Special Needs

A child with a physical handicap, mental handicap, or illness often times considered hard-to-place.

Termination of Rights

A situation where birthparents have chosen to legally relinquish their parental rights.

Waiting Period

Typically refers to the time period which must lapse between birth and the time the consent to the adoption can be signed by the birth parents (varies from state to state).

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