To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize unlawful adoption practices.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMs. Klobuchar (for herself, Mrs. Britt, Mr. Blumenthal, Mrs. Blackburn, …
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill makes it a federal crime to provide unlicensed adoption intermediary services or place adoption advertisements without proper authorization. It targets individuals and organizations that act as middlemen between birth parents and adoptive parents without being licensed adoption agencies or attorneys. The goal is to prevent exploitation of families seeking to adopt and protect children from being treated as commodities.
Who Benefits and How
Licensed adoption agencies benefit from reduced competition from unlicensed operators who may undercut their services. Adoptive families and birth parents benefit from protection against unscrupulous intermediaries who may take advantage of their vulnerable situations. Children benefit from safeguards against being placed through unregulated channels.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Unlicensed adoption facilitators face criminal penalties including fines up to $50,000 and imprisonment up to 5 years for individuals, or $100,000 fines for organizations. They must either obtain proper licensing or cease operations. Prospective adoptive parents who make direct payments over $2,500 to birth parents without going through licensed agencies face potential criminal liability.
Key Provisions
- Creates federal crime for providing unlicensed adoption intermediary services across state lines
- Prohibits adoption advertising by non-licensed entities
- Caps direct payments to birth parents at $2,500 before involvement of licensed agency or attorney
- Exempts licensed agencies, 501(c)(3) organizations under contract with public agencies, and licensed attorneys
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Criminalizes unlicensed adoption intermediary services and unauthorized adoption advertising to protect families from exploitation and prevent commodification of children in private domestic interstate adoptions.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Create federal criminal penalties to deter unlicensed adoption facilitators operating across state lines and protect vulnerable families from exploitation."
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A paid advertisement, article, notice, or other paid communication published in any media that solicits prospective adoptive parents or placing parents, or offers to disburse anything of value to a placing parent in connection with adoption.
The provision of services for compensation including soliciting placing or prospective adoptive parents, or acting as a link between them for placement of a child for adoption.
A parent with legal authority to place the child for adoption.
Any government child welfare or child protection agency with legal authority to place children for adoption.
A licensed or State approved agency with legal authority to place children for adoption.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology