Approved by Council, January 1997
To be reviewed

Decision making in the newborn adoptive process should be made based on the best interest of the child according to the current knowledge of child development and with full regard for ensuring the competence of the biological parents to make the decision to relinquish the infant. This decision making about newborn adoptions should consider the needs of the biological parents to have the time and support to make appropriate decisions, the adoptive parents to have assurances of a secure and stable relationship with the new child, and most importantly, the delicate developmental needs of the newborn to form secure and appropriate attachments. It is our opinion that the time period for the finalization of the adoption should not exceed the first four months of the newborn's life. Once the adoption is finalized, it should be inviolate and subject to disruption only under the same criteria applied to disruptions in a biologically intact family.