Adoption law creates the legal parent-child relationship between persons who are not each other's biological parent or child. It largely is a product of state law.  In Louisiana, there are different types of a legal adoption, such as foster-adoption, infant/newborn adoption, and international adoption. Whether the adoptive parent decides to go through an adoption agency or to adopt from a private person, the adoption decree means severance of the legal relationship between the adopted child and his or her biological parents and family. For all legal purposes, adopted children become the children of their adoptive parents.

The adoption process is not only legal in nature, but it also is a social process intended to encourage affectional ties within adoptive families. As a social process, adoption serves the interests of all parties to the adoption:  the biological parents, the adoptive parents, and the child. The biological parents are freed from the emotional and economic burdens of raising a child they do not want or for whom they are unable to provide care. If you are a birth parent, prospective adoptive parent, agency, or other participating party in an adoption proceeding, contact the law office of Layne M. Adams for caring, compassionate representation and confidential advice.