Glossary

Adoption – The legal procedure by which a person or couple takes a child who is not his or her biological offspring into the family and raises the child as his or her own. Adoption severs all legal ties between the adoptee and his or her birth parents (except in the case of stepchildren adoptions, where one biological parent is the spouse of the adopting parent and whose legal ties to the children are therefore unabridged) and establishes such ties between the adoptee and the adoptive parents. The adoptee has the same status with his or her adoptive parents as do any non-adopted siblings.

Adult adoption – Adoption of a person beyond the age of majority as defined by state law.

Apostille – A simplified and standardized form used for the purpose of providing a certification of certain public records. Documents needed for inter-country adoptions require the attachment of an apostille rather than authentication forms if the foreign country is a participant in the Apostille Convention.

Domestic adoptions – private agencies or organizations – An adoption through a private agency or organization that involves adoptive parents and a child who are both residents of the United States.

Domestic adoptions – state – An adoption through a state agency that involves adoptive parents and a child who are both residents of the United States.

Dual-military couples – A married couple in which both spouses are members of the Military Services.

Hague Adoption Convention – A treaty between the United States and seventy-five other countries that governs adoptions between these countries. The complete title of the treaty is the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption.

Inter-country adoption – Any adoption that involves adoptive parents from one country and a child from a different country.

Inter-jurisdictional placement – Children who are placed with relatives and families across state lines.

Non-qualifying adoption expenses – Expenses that are not included as potentially reimbursable expenses from the Department of Defense (DoD). These expenses include any travel undertaken by an adopting parent; any adoption arranged in violation of federal, state, or local law; any expenses for carrying out any surrogate parenting arrangement; expenses associated with the adoption of a child; or reimbursement for funds already received from any federal, state, or local program.

Petition to adopt – A legal document filed with a court of law on behalf of the adoptive parents stating the legal basis on which the adoptive parents should be allowed to adopt the child, why the court has jurisdiction to grant the adoption, the qualifications of the parents to adopt, and the name to be given to the child when the requested adoption becomes final.

Private adoption agencies – Nonprofit or for-profit agencies licensed by the state that depend on fees and donations, rather than tax dollars, to operate. Some private adoption agencies place infants or children born locally or from other countries, and some work with public agencies to place children who are in foster care.

Public adoption agencies – State and county agencies (often known as departments of social services, human services, children and family services, etc.) that are responsible for placing waiting children from foster care or institutional settings with adoptive families.

Qualifying adoption expenses – Reasonable and necessary expenses directly related to the legal adoption of a child, but only if such adoption is arranged by a state or local government that has responsibility under state or local law for child placement through adoption; by a nonprofit, voluntary adoption agency authorized by state or local law to place children for adoption; or through private placement (any placement of a child for the purpose of the adoption that is outside the auspice of a public or state-licensed agency, but is not in violation of applicable federal, state, or local law).

Qualifying child adoption – An adoption performed by a licensed/approved agency or court or other source authorized to place children for adoption under state or local law. This does not include stepparent adoption, but includes infant and inter-country adoptions.

Reasonable and necessary expenses – Public and private adoption agency fees, including adoption fees charged by an agency in a foreign country; placement fees, including fees charged adoptive parents for counseling; legal fees, including court costs; medical expenses, including hospital expenses of a newborn infant, medical care given to the adopted child before the adoption, and physical examinations for the adopting parents; expenses relating to pregnancy and childbirth for the biological mother, including counseling, transportation, and maternity home costs; and temporary foster care charges when payment of such charges is required to be made immediately before the child's placement.