In order to understand and hel p yourself make an action plan for your search, you first have to understand the various types of adoption. Depending on the type of adoption will depend on what avenues you may or may not be able to pursue in your search.

I am writing in general and are covering adoptions of today as well as during the closed adoption era. This is a breakdown of the basic types of adoptions.

The first is private. No profit or for profit adoption agencies, doctors, attorneys, and members of the clergy facilitate these adoptions. A child is placed in a non relative home and the adoption may be opened or closed based on the level of privacy the natural mother and adoptive parents agree to.

The second is a public adoption meaning that the children in the public welfare system are placed in permanent homes by government agencies or private agencies that are under contract to find homes for these children. In this type of adoption the child is placed in the state child welfare system because it was in the child’s best interest decided either by public officials. The perspective adoptive parents open their home to a child as a temporary haven and act as a foster parent. Once the child is cleared for adoption, the adoption process can move forward toward permanence. In order for a child to be cleared for adoption the state must determine the natural parents unfit.

Another type of adoption is a family adoption. This is where a non household family member adopts a child. An outside party does not always facilitate these adoptions. An example of this would be a teenager gets pregnant and knows that adoption is the best option but can’t bear the thought of never seeing her child again. A family member agrees to adopt the baby as her own, giving the natural mother regular access to her child.

The fourth type of adoption is a stepparent adoption. This is where the spouse of a natural parent adopts a child. The example that I like to use is a man and woman marry, get pregnant, have a baby, later in life divorce, and the mother has custody of the child. The mother meets a man, gets married, and the man adopts the child from the woman’s previous marriage. Technically, the man is agreeing to officially be their father on paper as well as in everyday life.

The fifth type of adoption is international adoption. This type has been in the spotlight lately due to celebrity adoptions. It is when a United States adoptive family goes through an American adoption agency that then contact the government adoption system in the child’s native country and files the appropriate paperwork, home studies, etc.

The last type is a black market adoption. This type of adoption is to sale a baby for profit. To read more about this type of adoption please see the two part blog series from earlier this month.

There are basic search tips that as an adoption triad member that you can pursue to start the adoption process. Depending on the type of adoption the information may not be accessible or available.