Tools and Resources to Equip Adoption Advocates

This comprehensive legislation protects adoptive families, children, and expectant mothers from exploitation by unlicensed adoption intermediaries and ensures that adoption providers and attorneys operate only in states where they are licensed to do so.

Lead Sponsors: Rep. Annie Kuster, Rep. Doug Lamborn, Rep. Robert Aderholt

“This bill name says it all: adoption deserves oversight, protections, and transparency. This bipartisan legislation provides safeguards and protections for all the parties involved with an adoption, most especially for the expectant parents considering adoption,” said Ryan Hanlon, the president and CEO of National Council For Adoption. “By eliminating the online, for-profit brokers, it will also reduce the cost of adoption and ensure that the service providers involved are licensed and overseen by proper authorities.”

This bill (House bill / Senate bill) would make the preexisting Adoption Tax Credit refundable, making thousands of adopting families newly eligible for the full credit and helping more families afford the costs of adopting a child. This would help families—especially low and moderate income families—recoup the thousands they incur in court and attorney’s fees, traveling expenses, and adoption fees.

Lead Senate Sponsors: Sen. Bob Casey, Sen. Kevin Cramer
Lead House Sponsors: Rep. Danny Davis, Rep. Blake Moore

This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publish an annually updated list of adoption agencies in good standing in each state across the United States. The bill will also require HHS to conduct a report on any disciplinary actions that states are taking against licensed agencies, providing further transparency across the U.S.

Lead Sponsors: Rep. Doug Lamborn, Rep. Annie Kuster, Rep. Lloyd Smucker

“It can be challenging to discern who the authorized, licensed adoption agencies are in each state,” said Ryan Hanlon, President and CEO of the National Council for Adoption. “Unfortunately, there are bad actors whose websites and online ads falsely claim they are licensed. This bipartisan legislation will allow for hopeful adoptive parents as well as pregnant parents seeking adoption information and support to determine which are licensed agencies in their state.”

The majority of ob-gyn nursing staff are uninformed or misinformed when it comes to adoption, and how to provide ethical, compassionate care to expectant, birth, and adoptive parents. H.R. 1475 directs the development of programs to close the gap in adoption education and standardize healthcare practice to ensure that the well-being and rights of everyone involved in an adoption situation are protected and respected.

Lead Sponsors: Rep. Lloyd Smucker, Rep. Don Davis

“Health care workers often play a key role in helping individuals with an unintended pregnancy, yet too often these health care workers don’t know how to provide accurate, non-directive information about adoption. We’re grateful to Rep. Smucker and Rep. Davis for their leadership on this bipartisan effort to ensure that health care workers have the ability to support expectant parents to understand and make a decision about adoption,” said Ryan Hanlon, President & CEO of the National Council for Adoption.