children s health issues
Adoption
Independent adoption or private adoption
Children can be adopted independently or privately, that is, a public agency is not involved in arranging the adoption. In these adoptions, biologic parents can use a private adoption agency to place a newborn with an adoptive family. Often, the adoptive family pays thousands of dollars to the private agency for legal services and medical support for the biologic parents. At times, a private lawyer, rather than an agency, makes these arrangements. Another type of private adoption can occur when a single parent marries or commits to a partner. Someone who marries a person who has a child does not automatically become the parent of that child. A child who does not have a second biologic parent can be adopted by the new spouse or partner. 