Many families build their forever homes through private adoptions that connect them directly with birth parents. These arrangements happen through adoption agencies or with an attorney guiding the process. Private adoptions allow birth parents to choose the family who will raise their child. Adoptive parents and birth parents work together to create an agreement that honors everyone’s needs. Some families maintain contact after placement in what’s called an open adoption. Others choose closed arrangements with no ongoing communication. This flexibility makes private adoptions appealing to many families. Private adoptions move at their own pace, and we support you through every milestone.

Many children enter foster care because of abuse, neglect, or abandonment, and they need stability that their birth families could not provide. Foster care adoption gives these children a chance to grow up in a secure, consistent environment. In many cases, the court may move forward with an involuntary termination of parental rights when reunification with their birth parent is not safe or possible. This step can be difficult, but it is often necessary to help a child find a permanent family. Our experienced Pennsylvania adoption lawyers guide families through every stage of the foster care adoption process.

Families who adopt internationally must follow both U.S. immigration law and the legal requirements of your child’s birth country. Working with international adoption agencies helps families navigate the complex process in different nations. Each country has its own rules for establishing legal parental rights and approving adoptive families. You’ll face legal challenges that don’t exist in domestic adoptions, from visa applications to citizenship documentation. International adoptions take longer than domestic ones, but the wait ends when you finally meet your child. At Conway Schadler, our experienced adoption attorneys are by your side until your family is complete.

Stepparent adoption makes your relationship with your partner’s child official under Pennsylvania law. Many stepparents have already helped raise their partner’s child for years, often after a separation or divorce in Pennsylvania, before deciding to take this important legal step. In many cases, the adoption process requires terminating the other biological parent’s parental rights through voluntary consent or a court order. When a parent refuses to cooperate, the case may become a contested adoption. Our experienced adoption lawyers handle the paperwork, background checks, and court proceedings to help you move forward as smoothly as possible.

Sometimes the best home for a child is with someone they already know and love. Family adoptions, also known as kinship adoptions, happen when grandparents, aunts, uncles, or other relatives step in to raise a child whose birth parents cannot provide care. A relative must petition the court to formalize the adoption and gain full parental rights over the child. Whether you’re adopting with your spouse or on your own, we understand your situation has individual needs that require personalized attention. Family adoptions in Pennsylvania honor existing relationships while giving children the permanency and security they need to thrive.

Age doesn’t have to stand in the way of formalizing family bonds and making them legally recognized. Adult adoptions happen when one person legally adopts another adult, often a stepchild or someone who aged out of foster care. Many families pursue adult adoptions for inheritance purposes, to establish legal guardianship rights, or simply to formalize family unity. Unlike adoptions involving minors, adult adoptions require consent from both the adoptive parent and the adult being adopted. The legal process is typically more straightforward since there are no biological parents whose rights need termination. Our Greater Philadelphia adoption attorneys help families complete adult adoptions to uphold relationships that have existed for years but were never legally recognized.