Types Of Adoption

Nearly everyone has the opportunity to adopt a child these days, thanks to the ways in which the adoption community has evolved. There are two basic umbrellas under which all other types of adoption fall: domestic and international.

International adoption involves the adoption of any child outside of the U.S. Alternatively, domestic adoption is any form of adoption within the U.S.

Domestically, adopters can adopt infants independently with the help of an attorney or facilitator or they can apply for placement with a private agency. Infant adoption requires a lot of time because of the facilitation required between the adopters and future birth mother. There are three ways to approach infant adoption: closed, semi-open or open. These refer to how much face-to-face contact the two adoption parties have and how much they want to know about each other. This can sometimes also carry over into the post-placement relationship between the birth mother and adoptive family.

One last way to adopt an infant is through surrogacy. A surrogate mother will either carry a child related to one of the adoptive parents or an adoptive couple's fertilized egg, or embryo, with the intention to place with the child for adoption after the pregnancy comes to term.

The last way to adopt a child domestically is through the government-run public agencies. These agencies handle the adoption of older children who are living in the U.S. foster care system.