Adoption: Not Just for Children

Alan and Glenna Weith hold a photo of their son Linc Morris and his daughters Annalise, left, and Olivia, right, at their home in Mahomet, Ill., Friday, March 9, 2007. Linc was 42 years old when he was adopted by his mother and stepfather, Alan, in 2005. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman) (Seth Perlman - AP)

Many states require only the consent of both adults and a judge's approval, but some are more restrictive.

In Illinois, for example, the adult wanting to be adopted must have lived with their adopter for at least two consecutive years, Weith said. In other states, including Alabama, the adopted adult must be permanently disabled or incapacitated in some way.

No state allows adult adoption by a U.S. citizen trying to bring a non-citizen into the country, said Marilu Cabrera, spokeswoman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Chicago.

But there are cases in which adult adoption is appropriate and helpful, experts said.

For foster children older than 18, adoption offers hope of finding a permanent family, and the practice of adopting older orphans is becoming more common, said Adam Pertman, executive director of the New York-based Evan Donaldson Adoption Institute.

"Why do 18- or 21-year-olds not need families?" he said. "Where is their support system? ... Where do they go for Christmas?"

Adopted children who find their birth parents later in life also might choose to be adopted as adults as a way to legalize the biological connection.

Some gay couples have used adoption to secure legal protections that were nonexistent before the emergence of domestic partnership benefits. But the legal waters for such adoptions are a bit murky.

Olive Watson, the daughter of IBM founder Thomas Watson, adopted her former partner, Patricia Spado, 16 years ago in Maine. Spado now is trying to get a share of a trust set up for the family's heirs.

Members of the Watson family are trying have the adoption annulled, which will entail proving fraud or deception. Briefs in the case indicate the judge who approved the adoption didn't know the women had a sexual relationship.

In some states, incest rules would apply to such an adoption, and other states have blocked gay couples from entering what laws have termed "quasi-marriages."

"We do discourage people from performing adoptions," said Camilla Taylor, staff attorney with Lambda Legal, a national gay rights advocacy organization.

Adoption statutes are meant to help people create parent-child relationships, and because that's not what gay couples are doing, their adoptions are subject to legal challenge, she said.