Adoption Dictionary
Adoptable Child: Any child waiting to be adopted
Adopted Person or Adoptee: Someone who has been legally adopted
Adoption Agreement: A document in which birth and adoptive parents outline their plans for contact and communication; although not always legally enforceable, it is best thought of as a covenant promise
Adoption Plan: The decision of parents to allow their child to grow up in an adoptive family
Adoption Social Worker: A trained professional who assesses prospective adoptive parents and counsels them regarding adoption and parenting
Adoption Triad: Birthparents, adoptive parents, and the adopted child(ren)
Adoptive Parent(s): Adult(s) who adopt(s) a child
At-Risk Placement or Legal-Risk Placement: The placement of a child with an adoptive family before birthparents’ legal rights have ended or when rights have been ended, but any revocation period has not yet expired
Birthparents (also known as birthmother and birthfather): Biological or genetic parents of a child, sometimes called first parents, and generally used to refer to parents who make an adoption plan
Confidential Adoption or Closed Adoption: An adoption plan where non-identifying information is shared, but birth and adoptive parents do not meet, do not share identifying information, and do not keep in contact