Adoption Procedure in the US involves application by the prospective adoptive parents to the court to grant adoption, according to the adoption laws of the concerned state or jurisdiction along with evidence of meeting the statutory requirements.
Then the Court designates an adoption agency or social service investigator to screen the applicants for their suitability for adoption. After several rounds of interviews including home visit, the investigator presents his report with prescribed particulars to the Court and makes a recommendation for or against the proposed adoption.
Most state laws require the prospective adoptive parents to take temporary custody of the child before adoption. The purpose is to test how the child and the prospective parents get along with each other in the new domestic household.
In case, where the state law requires the consent of the natural parents, the court hears them before granting adoption. Even the preference of those natural parents for placement, unable to take care of the child, is considered by the Court. In situations, where the biological parents cannot be tracked after due diligence, notice from the Court is directed to their last known address.
Last, but not the least, the burden of proof is on the prospective adoptive parents to demonstrate before the Court with cogent and clear evidence that placement in adoption with them would be in the child’s best interests.
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