A-Z Adoption Terms

Adoption: The legal transfer of all parental rights and obligations from one person or couple to another person or couple.

Adoptive Parents:  An individual or couple who have chosen to adopt and have received CYFS approval.

Birth Parents: The biological mother and father of the baby.

Closed Adoption: An adoption that has no identifying information shared. Most adoptions in New Zealand are now open to some degree.

Consent Forms: These papers are signed by birth parents to hand over their parental rights and responsibilities to the adoptive parents.

Contact Agreements: These are not legally binding but they state the level of contact both parties are comfortable with at the time of the adoption.

Domestic Adoption: This is adoption within New Zealand rather than from another country.

Final Adoption Order: This is the court hearing that finalises the adoption process and usually occurs within the first year after the adoption has occurred. Once this is granted a new birth certificate showing the adoptive parents as the parents can be issued. The child can now legally take the adoptive parents surname.

Foster Parents:  An individual or couple who has temporary care of a child, but has no legal rights in determining many aspects of a child's life. Sometimes foster parents become adoptive parents. The goal of foster care is to care for the child until the courts decide where it will be placed.

Identified Adoption: Adoptive parents and birthparents find each other first and then go to CYFS or to complete the adoption process.

Interim Adoption Order: The court makes this once the consent forms have been signed by the birth parents. This enables the adoptive parents to take the baby home with them.

International Adoption:  The adopted child comes from another country. The countries with the most international adoptions are from China, Russia and the Philippines. CYFs handle domestic and international adoptions in New Zealand.

Open Adoption:  An adoption that has identifying information shared. This can be at the time the adoption takes place and/or while the child grows up. It can be vary from minimal information like a photo and letter being exchanged at the time of birth, to regular contact between birthparents and adoptive parents and child.

Profile Book: This is created by a couple hoping to adopt to describe their lives and show what they have to offer a child.

Termination of Parental Rights:  This can be done as a voluntary process when birth parents consent to an adoption. A termination of parental rights is a legal process and must be done before an adoption can be finalized.

Whangi: This is a Maori traditional approach to adoption where children are placed with someone from the extended family. No legal paperwork is involved and therefore it is not a legal adoption arrangement.

Adapted from ABC Adoptions.com

If there are some A-Z terms that you think are missing, please email us and we'll add them to the list.