Adoption Act

The Adoption Act governs the legal process by which a child or adult becomes the child of persons who are not their biological parents, setting out who must consent to an adoption, how consents and surrenders of parental rights are executed and when they become irrevocable, and how a court reviews a petition and enters judgment. It establishes procedural machinery around those steps — a registry through which a putative father may preserve his right to notice, notice requirements, interim and standby orders, and a standard directing courts to treat the welfare of the child as the paramount consideration. It also creates a confidentiality regime for adoption records, together with a state registry and intermediary system through which adoptees, birth parents, and other eligible parties may exchange identifying information, medical and mental health histories, and obtain access to original birth records, and it provides for post-placement and post-adoption support services.

Editorial summary generated from the text of this act. It is not part of the statute — read the sections below for the operative language.