Adoption can be defined as a process by which children are brought together with adults who are not their biological parents to form a family. Practiced informally throughout human history, adoption in the United States has evolved into a formalized...

“Family preservation services are an appropriate strategy for enabling some children to safely remain with their families while a crisis is being diffused.” —Michael Weber, National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse News,...

A HUNDRED AND FIFTY years ago, adoption as we know it did not exist. Adoption in those days usually meant one of two things: a child moved in with relatives, or a child lived with an unrelated family in exchange for work. In neither case would the...

Adoption A practice in which an adult assumes the role of parent for a child who is not his or her biological offspring. An adult assumes the role of parent for a child other than his or her own biological offspring in the process of adoption. Informal...

An adult assumes the role of parent for a child other than his or her own biological offspring in the process of adoption. Legally recognized adoptions require a court or other government agency to award permanent custody of a child (or, occasionally,...

A traditional form of adoption in China is called lisi, literally ‘establishing an heir’, which usually involves the naming of a child, most likely a boy, as the descendant of couples who do not have biological children or sons of their...

Not recognized in talmudic law, which holds that a child’s status derives from the natural relationship to the parent and cannot be altered or artificially created; still, within Talmudic law, one may assume responsibility for a child’s...

Legal proceeding in which an adult takes, as his or her lawful child, an individual (usually a minor) who is not the adoptive parent’s natural offspring. The adopted child may lose all legal connection to the previous parent, and the adoptive...

The assumption of a parental relationship with an individual who is not one’s biological offspring. Jewish law provides for adoption; a guardian may be appointed to supervise the welfare and property of the child. If the child is not of Jewish...

Adoption is the legal act of permanently placing a child with a parent or parents other than the birth (or "biological") mother or father. An adoption order has the effect of severing the parental responsibilities and rights of the birth parents and...