When a person first thinks about adoption, they usually tend to think about adopting an infant or a newborn baby. They also tend to think of a situation where the adoptive parents and the birth family never meet, have no contact, and may not even know who each other are. They tend to think, also, of adopting a child from a local agency, from somewhere nearby to where they live. While all of these things are possible and do happen, there are actually many different types of adoption to be considered.

First of all, adoptions can be classified by whether they are private or through an agency. A private adoption is arranged through an attorney, without the assistance of an adoption agency. This sort of adoption is probably less common than agency adoptions. However, even with agency adoptions, there are differences. The adoption may be through a private adoption agency, or it may be through the state’s agency.

There are also different types of adoption in terms of how the adopting family relates with the birth family. For example, with a closed adoption, no identifying information is shared between the two families. This sort of information is not available. While is may be possible for the families to meet, names and addresses are not given. This stands in contrast to the open adoption, in which the birth parents and the adoptive parents do exchange information, and are able and willing to be in contact with one another. In an open adoption, the adopted child typically has the opportunity to relate to her birth family as well, whether it is in person, or through telephone, mail, or e-mail.

Another difference in the type of adoption has to do with the location. It may be that the adoption occurs within the adoptive family’s home area or state. It can also happen that a child from another state is adopted. There are even international adoptions, in which birth parents and adoptive parents live in different countries.

Beyond these general different types of adoption, there are other sorts of differences. It may be that the child is an infant, or that the child is older. The child may or may not have special needs. The child may be a foster child first. It is also possible for a step-parent to adopt a step-child.

Posted in Adoption

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