Adoptee - An individual who is adopted. 

Adoption Triad - Refers to those parties directly involved in an adoption plan. The triad includes: birth parents, adoptive parents, and the adoptee. 

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

Adoptive Parent(s): - An individual or couple who have chosen to adopt and have had an adoption finalized in a court.

Agency - State Licensed Agency that provides counseling to birthparents, homestudies to prospective adoptive parents, relinquishment services and post-placement programs for triad members. These Agencies may also provide Intercountry and Special Needs adoption services. 

Adoption Worker - Your assigned counselor who will complete your homestudy and facilitate your adoption. 

Amom - Adoptee's mother

Attachment/Bonding - Attachment is the connection between children and their primary caregiver. Bonding is the connection a child has with his/her biological mother, which is present at birth. 

Bmom - Biological mother of the adoptee.

Bdad - Biological father of the adoptee.

Birth Father - Biological father of the adoptee.

Birth family  -Biological family of the adoptee. 

Birth Parents - The parents to whom a child is born; biological parents.

Birth Mother - Biological mother of the adoptee.

Consent - Legal process through which a birth parent voluntarily agrees to make an adoption plan for their child with a specific family through an Independent Adoption. 

Entitlement - The process whereby adoptive parents give themselves permission to parent their adopted son or daughter. Entitlement is not always automatic, and may not occur for days or weeks after placement. 

Finalization - The legal process which transfers custody of the child from the agency to the adoptive parents. This process is facilitated by an attorney and cannot occur until the adoptive parents have had the child in their home for at least six months. 

Give up - A term commonly used in society when referring to the action of a person who placed a child for adoption. Adoption professionals and birthparents prefer the following: Made an adoption plan, placed a child for adoption, or released a child for adoption. 

Grief and Loss - The act of losing a valued relationship. Grief is the emotional process involved in loss or the realization of the loss. 

Homestudy -  A process in which your adoption worker will visit your family. A number of visits are completed, which vary from agency to agency, which covers your family background, marriage, values, traditions, parenting philosophy, and understanding of the adoption process. 

Natural/Real Parent -  A term commonly used to refer to a child’s biological parents, generally used by those not familiar with positive adoption language. 

Non-Id - Non-identifying, genetic and social history received from the agency which the adoption was placed through, or through the State of Wisconsin Adoption Search program.

Open Records - Accessibility to own adoption records by each member of the triad. This includes access to identifying information. 

Placement - Also known as entrustment, placement is the transfer of physical custody of the child from the birth parents to the adoptive family. Adoptive placement generally occurs after relinquishments have been signed. 

Relinquishment - Legal process by which birth parents voluntarily terminate their parental rights in order to free their child for adoption through a licensed agency. 

Reunion - The facilitation of contact between an adoptee and his/her biological family through the search process. 

Search - The process of seeking out a relationship with a person whose identity and or whereabouts is unknown to you, but to whom you are related through birth or adoption. 

Termination of Parental Rights - The process through which all legal rights and responsibilities between parent and child are severed. This can be voluntary or involuntary if the appropriate court determines that to be in the best interests of the child. A termination of parental rights must occur before an adoption can be finalized.

Triad - Refers to those parties directly involved in an adoption plan. The triad includes: birth parents, adoptive parents, and the adoptee.

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