Legal Definitions - direct-placement adoption

Direct-placement adoption refers to a process where birth parents directly select and place their child with adoptive parents. This type of adoption typically occurs without the child first entering the state's foster care system. While an adoption agency or attorney often facilitates the match, provides counseling, and handles the legal procedures, the defining characteristic is the direct relationship and agreement between the birth parents and the chosen adoptive parents regarding the child's placement.

Here are some examples to illustrate direct-placement adoption:

• Example 1: Private Attorney Facilitated Match

  Sarah and Mark, a couple hoping to adopt, work with a private adoption attorney. The attorney connects them with Emily, who is pregnant and has made the difficult decision to place her child for adoption. Sarah and Mark meet Emily, establish a rapport, and after the baby is born, Emily formally consents to the adoption. The baby then goes directly home with Sarah and Mark from the hospital.

  This illustrates direct-placement adoption because Emily, the birth mother, directly chose Sarah and Mark as the adoptive parents, and the baby was placed with them immediately after birth, bypassing any state foster care system.

• Example 2: Agency-Assisted Selection

  Maria, a young single mother, realizes she cannot adequately provide for her newborn. She contacts a licensed adoption agency that specializes in private adoptions. The agency provides her with profiles of several pre-screened, prospective adoptive families. Maria reviews the profiles, meets with three families, and ultimately chooses the Johnsons, feeling they are the best fit for her child. The agency then facilitates the legal transfer of custody and finalization of the adoption.

  This is a direct-placement adoption because Maria, the birth mother, made the direct decision to select the Johnsons from the options presented by the agency, and the child was placed directly into their care, rather than entering the foster care system.

• Example 3: Kinship Adoption

  David and Lisa's sister, Jessica, is facing severe health issues that prevent her from caring for her two young children. Jessica asks David and Lisa if they would be willing to adopt her children. They agree, and with the help of a family law attorney, Jessica legally relinquishes her parental rights, and David and Lisa adopt the children directly from her, ensuring the children remain within the family.

  This is a direct-placement adoption because Jessica, the birth mother, directly chose her sister and brother-in-law to adopt her children, and the children moved directly from her care to theirs, without any involvement of child protective services or the foster care system.