Adoption is the legal procedure that allows a family to make a child who is not biologically their own part of their family. Every adoption, whether foreign or domestic, requires the action and approval of a court to become final.

Each state has its own policies and procedures controlling child adoption. Most states have measures in place to assess the fitness of the adopting parents. Upon adoption, adopted children generally receive all the benefits afforded to natural children and parents owe adopted children all the legal duties of care and support owed to a natural or birth child of the marriage.

Adoption relieves birth parents of the financial responsibilities they owe their children. In the past, adoption also meant birth parents relinquished the child forever without the privilege of seeing the child or being otherwise involved in the child's life. However, particularly in domestic adoptions, policies have changed and birth parents sometimes now are allowed open adoptions where they maintain contact with their children after adoption becomes final.

Family law attorneys who offer adoption-related services can help both adoptive and birth parents throughout all phases of the adoption process.