Family law
Entering into marriage
Prenuptial agreement · Marriage
Common-law marriage
Same-sex marriage
Legal states similar to marriage
Cohabitation · Civil union
Domestic partnership
Registered partnership
Putative marriage
Dissolution of marriage
Annulment · Divorce · Alimony
Issues affecting children
Paternity · Legitimacy · Adoption
Legal guardian · Ward
Emancipation of minors
Parental responsibility
Contact (including Visitation)
Residence in English law
Custody · Child support
Areas of possible legal concern
Spousal abuse · Child support
Areas of possible legal concern
Spousal abuse · Child abuse
Child abduction
Adultery · Bigamy · Incest
Conflict of Laws Issues
Marriage · Nullity · Divorce
For other uses, see Adoption (disambiguation).
Adoption is the legal act of permanently placing a child with a parent or parents before it is legally completed (an adoption that is reversed after that point is instead referred to in the law as having been dissolved), in practice the term is used for all adoptions that are ended (more recently, among families disrupting, the euphemism "re-homing" has become current). It is usually initiated by the parents via a court petition, much like a divorce, to which it is analogous.
While rarely discussed in public, even within the adoption community, the practice has become far more widespread in recent years, especially among those parents who have adopted from Eastern European countries, particularly Russia and Romania, where some children have suffered far more from their institutionalization than their parents were
