PA Adoption
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A Abandonment:
Although the laws of each state will define this term differently for
residents of that state, these definitions almost unanimously include some
combination of an unjustified failure to provide adequately for the financial
support for the child and an unjustified failure to maintain, or attempt to
maintain, contact or a parental relationship with the child for a certain
period of time Adoptee:
Although this term refers to a person who has been adopted, there are many
adopted individuals who do not like to be referred to in this way, because
they consider themselves to be every bit as much a full member of their
adopted family as any other natural child would be, and therefore consider
themselves to be just a regular "child," rather than an
"adoptee" or an "adopted child Adoption: The
official transfer through the court system of all of the parental rights that
a biological parent has to a child, along with an assumption by the adopting
parent of all of the parental rights of the biological parents that are being
terminated and are assumed in their entirety by the adoptive parents,
including the responsibility for the care and supervision of the child, its
nurturing and training, it physical and emotional health, and its financial
support Adoption Attorney: An
attorney who is licensed to practice law in one or more states, who has the
expertise and experience that is necessary to properly understand and apply
the State and Federal laws pertaining to adoption matters, who is proficient
in the filing, processing, and finalization of adoption matters in courts
having appropriate jurisdiction, and in dealing effectively with birth
parents, adoptive parents, and when necessary, members of their extended
families, in matters relating directly and indirectly to adoption Adoption Records:
This term refers to documents that are both public and non-public in nature that
provide information about an adoption, and include and original sealed birth
certificate, the court documents that relate to the processing and
finalization of the adoption, and the non-public records of the adoption
agency or adoption attorney that assisted in the processing and finalization
of the adoption Adoption Triangle or Adoption
Triad: A term used to describe the three-sided relationship that exists in
an adoption between birth parents, adoptive parents and the adoptee, each of
which is interrelated and inter-dependent on the others Adoptive Parents:
Although this term is often used to refer to both parents that are seeking to
adopt, and parents that already have adopted, it is probably more commonly
used to describe parents that are seeking to adopt, although since many
parents will adopt on more than one occasion, they could be both an adoptive
parent who has already adopted, and an adoptive parent who is seeking to
adopt Agency Adoption: Adoption that
is facilitated by a State Licensed Agency that provides counseling to birth
parents, home studies to prospective adoptive parents, relinquishment
services and post-placement programs for triad members Amended Birth Certificate: A
term used to refer to the new birth certificate that is issued after an
adoption is finalized, which shows the new name of the child and the adoptive
parents as its parents, as though they were its biological parents Attachment: The
formation by a child of significant and stable emotional connections with the
significant people in its life Click here to go to top of
document B Biracial Adoptions: A
term used to refer to the adoption of a children who have biological parents
that are of different races Birth Father: The biological father of a child Birth Mother: The biological mother of a child Birth Parent: This is another term used to refer to the
"biological parents" of a child, whether male or female, and
regardless of whether the parents of the child are married to each other, or
are shown as the parents of the child on its birth certificate Black Market Adoptions:
Adoptions that do not conform to the established laws that regulate adoption,
and which usually involve the payment of large sums of money to an adoption
attorney, an adoption facilitator, or an adoption agency, in order to avoid
the law Bonding: The
process that a child goes through in developing lasting emotional ties with
it's immediate caregivers, which is seen as the first and most significant
developmental task of a human being, and is central to that person's ability
to relate properly to others throughout its life Click
here to go to top of document C Caseworker:
Also sometimes referred to as "Adoption Worker" or "Adoption
Caseworker" or "Social Worker Closed Adoptions:
This is the most traditional type of adoption that is still used today, but
is declining in popularity as the focus in the relationships between adoptive
parents and birth parents is shifting from the lack of information and total
confidentiality, to shared information and privacy Confidential Adoptions: A
more modern and more positive term that is used to describe what has been
traditionally called "closed adoptions Confidential Intermediary: A
position or function that is created or authorized under the provisions of
the adoption laws in most states, which refers to an individual who acts on
behalf of either an adoptive parent, a birth parent or an adopted child, to
attempt to make contact with other members of the adoption triangle, whose
identity cannot otherwise be legally established or determined Confidentiality: The
legally required process of keeping secret; the legally and ethically
required principle and practice which compels adoption attorneys, social
workers, employees of adoption agencies, court personnel and other
professionals to not disclose identifying or other significant information
about the parties to an adoption, without legal authority and the written
consent of the involved parties to do so Consent: Legal process through which a birth parent voluntarily agrees to
make an adoption plan for their child with a specific family through an
Independent Adoption Click here to go to top of
document D Decree of Adoption: The
document that a judge signs to finalize an adoption Department of Vital Records: The
government department in each state that issues and maintains the official
birth certificates and death certificates of individuals that were born or
died in that state DNA Testing: DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid) is the genetic blueprint that determines a person's
biological characteristics Click here to go to top of
document E Extended Family: The
relatives of an individual, both by blood and by marriage, other than its
immediate family, such as aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins F Finalization: The
point in time when the court grants the Petition to Adopt of the adoptive
parents and takes the necessary action to formally make the child a legal
member of their family Finalization Hearing: A
court hearing where in most states an adoption becomes final Click here to go to top of
document G Genealogy: A
term referring to the study of the history of past and present members of a
particular family, which usually includes the preparation of a "family
tree" or pedigree chart, showing the past and present members of the family
joined together by a series of lines that help in ascertaining their
relationship to each other, and the location, documentation and recording of
a family history, including stories about the personal lives of individual
members of the family, sometimes even including pictures of these individuals
or family groups Click here to go to top of
document H Home Study: A process whereby an individual or couple undergo a study by a
licensed public or private agency to assure the well-being of the child in
the home and the readiness of the family to adopt Click here to go to top of
document I Identifying Information:
Information about birthparents or adoptive parents or an adopted child, which
either on its own, or in a combination with other information, discloses, or
could lead to the discovery of, the identity of these individuals, such as
last names, addresses, phone numbers, drivers' license numbers, social
security numbers or even birth dates Immediate Family: A
term that is generally used to refer to the smallest unit of a family that an
individual lives with, which usually includes a father, a mother and siblings Indian Child Welfare Act of
1978 (ICWA): ICWA is a Federal law that takes precedence
over the local adoption laws of every state and gives Native American Indian
Nations and Tribes, including the Alaskan Aleuts, the right to control
adoptions that involve their tribal members, the children of their tribal
members, those individuals that could become tribal members, or even those
individuals that a tribe would otherwise give appropriate recognition to
under the terms of ICWA, even though the required tribal affiliation has not
yet been formally established Infertility: The
inability to conceive and/or bear children by natural means International Adoptions:
These adoptions involve children who were born in a country other than where
the adoptive parents reside or are citizens, or who are citizens of a country
other than where they live Click here to go to top of document |
J We're sorry, but there are no
terms currently listed in the glossary under that letter K We're sorry, but there are no
terms currently listed in the glossary under that letter L Legal Publication:
Within our constitutionally based legal system, in order for substantial
personal rights (like parental rights), of constitutionally protected
individuals (like birthparents), to be terminated or destroyed in a legal
proceeding (like an adoption), the affected individuals must be given
adequate notice of the legal proceeding, and a reasonable opportunity to
present evidence and witnesses in their own defense Legal Guardian: A
person who has the legal responsibility for providing the care and management
of a person who is incapable, either due to age (very young or even very old,
or to some other physical, mental or emotional impairment, of administering
his or her own affairs Life Book: A
pictorial and written representation of the life of a child, which is
designed to help the child better understand make sense of its unique
background and history Click
here to go to top of document M Maternity Home: A
group residency envi Click
here to go to top of document N Non-Identifying Information:
Health and other family background information which is commonly exchanged or
otherwise made available to the other members of the adoption triad, but
which does not include identifying information, such as names, addresses,
birth dates and telephone numbers Non-Relative Adoption: A
term used to refer to the adoption of a child by adoptive parents who are not
biologically related to the child Notice of Hearing:
This is the document that contains the details about when and where the
adoption finalization hearing will take place in an adoption, and states that
anyone that objects to the adoption should appear at that hearing to voice
that objection Click here to go to top of
document O Open Adoption: An adoption process in which birth parents meet and know
· the adoptive parent(s) Open Records: Accessibility to own adoption records by each member of
the triad Original Birth Certificate: The
birth certificate issued at the birth of a child and before an adoption takes
place Click here to go to top of
document P Paternity: The identity of the
biological father of a child Petition to Adopt:
This is the document that is filed with the court on your behalf to commence
you adoption action Placement:
This term is used to describe the point in time when your child comes to live
with you in your home Private Adoption Agency:
These licensed agencies can have a non-profit, not-for-profit or for-profit legal
and tax status, and can be either general in their scope, or can develop an
expertise and focus in a certain type of adoption, such as international
adoptions, the adoption of foster children, or the adoption of children with
special needs or those with a certain ethnic background Click
here to go to top of document Q We're sorry, but there are no
terms currently listed in the glossary under that letter R Relative Adoptions: A
term used to refer to an adoption where the adoptive parents are already
biologically related to the child in some way Relinquishment: Legal process by which birth parents voluntarily
terminate their parental rights in order to free their child for adoption
through a licensed agency Click here to go to top of
document S Search and Consent Procedures: Procedures that are sanctioned
under State law, that authorize a public or private agency to assist a
searching party to locate another party to an adoption, in order to determine
if the party being sought would be agreeable to the release of identifying
information about them to the searching party, or would be willing to agree
to a personal meeting with the searching party Semi-Open Adoptions: A
form of adoption that is intentionally designed to be a combination of a more
traditional closed adoption and a more progressive open adoption, with the
emphasis being on the "privacy" of all parties, rather than on
"confidentially Severance of Parental Rights: In
some states the term that is used is the "termination of parental rights Special Needs: Refers to children who are physically, developmentally
or emotional disabled, a sibling group and-all others who might remain in
foster care should no adoptive family be available Statutes:
Laws, including both state and federal laws Surrender: In the
context of an adoption, this is a term that is used to refer to a voluntary,
as opposed to an involuntary, termination of parental rights by a biological
parent of a child that is to be adopted, when the parent signs a formal
written Relinquishment or a Consent to Adoption document, which usually takes
place in the presence of witnesses and/or a Notary Public Surrogate Mother: A
woman who carries and gives birth to the child of another woman, who is usually
infertile, by way of a pre-arranged legal contract Click here to go to top of
document T Traditional Adoption:
This term is most often used to refer to a domestic infant adoption in which
confidentiality of the birthparents and the adoptive parents is preserved U We're sorry, but there are no
terms currently listed in the glossary under that letter V Voluntary Click here to go to top of
document W We're sorry, but there are no
terms currently listed in the glossary under that letter X We're sorry, but there are no
terms currently listed in the glossary under that letter Y We're sorry, but there are no
terms currently listed in the glossary under that letter Z We're sorry, but there are no terms currently
listed in the glossary under that letter |