Private Adoption

Also called independent adoption. A form of adoption when the birth parent(s) and the adoptive parent(s) make an arrangement for adoption through an intermediary (e.g., lawyer, physician, facilitator) rather than a licensed adoption agency. Private adoptions aren’t centrally tracked by any agency in the U.S. and aren’t legal in every state. Some advocates criticize how private adoptions can take advantage of birth parents (e.g., poor transparency, fewer legal protections, lack of counseling) and the way they commodify babies (e.g., white adoptive parents pay more for white babies than BIPOC babies). Private adoptions can be open adoptions (i.e., allow contact between adopted children and their families of origin), but this is not always the case. For more.