Adoption Terms

Adoption Agency

An agency, licensed by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, that provides services to birth parents, adoptive parents and children who need families. Agencies may be public or private, secular or religious, for profit or nonprofit.

Adoption Attorney

A legal professional who has experience with filing, processing and finalizing adoptions in a court having jurisdiction. For an adoption attorney referral in your state, you can look in your phone book under "American Bar Association" or “Wisconsin Bar Association” or contact:

American Academy of Adoption Attorneys
P.O. Box 33053
Washington, DC 20033-0053
Email: trustees@adoptionattorneys.org
http://www.adoptionattorneys.org
Phone: (202) 832-2222

Adoption Facilitator

An individual whose business involves connecting birth parents and prospective adoptive parents for a fee (facilitators are not allowed to do business in Wisconsin).

Adoption Placement

The point at which a child begins to live with prospective adoptive parents; the period before the adoption is finalized.

Adoption Triad

The three major parties in an adoption: birth parents, adoptive parents and adopted child. Also called "adoption triangle" or "adoption circle."

Birth Parent

A child's biological parent.

Closed Adoption

An adoption that involves total confidentiality and sealed records.

Finalization

The final legal step in the adoption process; involves a court hearing during which the judge orders that the adoptive parents become the child's legal parents.

Grief

A feeling of emotional deprivation or loss. Grief may be experienced by each member of the adoption triad at some point.

Home study

The process in which prospective adoptive parents are evaluated. This evaluation is conducted by a licensed social worker who will meet with prospective parents and get to know them over several interviews. The home study process may include the following: interviews with a social worker, autobiographical statements, references from friends, family and employers, criminal background checks and physical examinations. The home study assesses whether a family can provide a stable family environment that will help their children grow and develop.

Identified Or Independent Adoption

When a birth mother/father approaches an adoptive family (or visa versa) and asks them to adopt their child. The birth parents and adoptive family still need to work through an agency and take all the legal steps to secure the adoption.

Loss

A feeling of emotional deprivation that is experienced at some point in time for a birth parent, the initial loss will usually be felt at or after the placement of the child. Adoptive parents who are infertile feel a loss in their inability to bear a child. An adopted child may feel a sense of loss at various points in time; the first time the child realizes he is adopted may invoke a strong sense of loss for his birth family.

Open Adoption

An adoption that involves some amount of initial and/or ongoing contact between birth and adoptive families, ranging from sending letters through the agency, to exchanging names and/or scheduling visits.

Paternity Testing

Genetic testing that can determine the identity of the biological father. Paternity testing can be done with or without access to the biological mother.

Post Adoption Services

Services provided subsequent to legal finalization of the adoption.

Relative Adoption

Wisconsin state statutes allow a parent having physical custody of a child to place the child in the home of a relative of the child’s for the purpose of adoption. Relative is defined as a parent, stepparent, grandparent, great grandparent, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, first cousin, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, second cousin, step-uncle, step-aunt, any person of a preceding generation as denoted by the prefix grand, great, or great-great, and the spouse of any relative of the child, whether the relationship is by blood, adoption, or marriage, even if the marriage is terminated by death or divorce.

Special Needs Adoption

Children with special needs are often school age or part of a sibling group. Some of the children have mental, physical or emotional disabilities. They are children who have been removed from their homes because of abuse and neglect; most are in foster care.

Stepparent Adoption

The stepparent adopts his/her spouse’s child and therefore willingly assumes financial and legal responsibility for the child or children. A stepparent adoption also releases the non-custodial parent of parental responsibilities, including child support. A home study evaluation is needed when completing a stepparent adoption.

Termination of Parental Rights (TPR)

A TPR is the legal procedure for permanently ending a legal relationship between a parent and child. Once the parental rights have been terminated, the birth parent is no longer legally the parent of their child. A TPR ends the birth parent’s rights and responsibilities to their child.