Legal Definitions - adoptee

An adoptee is an individual who has legally become the child of a parent or parents who are not their biological birth parents. This legal process establishes all the rights and responsibilities of a biological parent-child relationship between the adoptee and their adoptive parents.

• Example 1: After a lengthy legal process, a couple, Maria and Ben, officially adopted a newborn baby girl named Lily. Lily is now their legal daughter, even though she was born to another woman.

  Explanation: Lily is an adoptee because Maria and Ben, who are not her biological parents, have legally become her parents through adoption, granting her all the rights and status of a child born to them.

• Example 2: Twelve-year-old David had been living in foster care for several years. After a court finalized the adoption, he moved in permanently with the Chen family, who became his legal parents.

  Explanation: David is an adoptee. The Chen family legally adopted him, establishing a permanent parent-child relationship and making them his parents, despite them not being his biological mother or father.

• Example 3: Sarah's mother married Tom when Sarah was seven. When Sarah was fifteen, Tom legally adopted her with the consent of her biological father, making Tom her legal parent.

  Explanation: Sarah is an adoptee. Although Tom was already her stepfather, the legal adoption process formally established him as her legal parent, granting him all parental rights and responsibilities, just as if he were her biological father.