Adoption

The process of adoption involves taking of a child as one's own; act of adopting; state of being adopted; (Legal) court proceeding according to which an adult becomes the legal parent of a child who is not his/her biological child; acceptation, act of accepting with approval; positive acceptance. Adoption is the legal act of permanently placing a child with a parent or parents other than the birth mother or father. An adoption order has the effect of severing the parental responsibilities and rights of the birth parents and transferring those responsibilities and rights onto the adoptive parent(s). After the finalization of an adoption, there is no legal difference between adopted children and those born to the parents. There are several kinds of adoption, which can be defined both by effect (e.g., whether the adoption is open or closed, see below) and by location and the origin of the child (i.e., domestic or international adoption).

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