Persons contemplating adoption must comply with adoption laws. Each state has its own set of rules and laws regarding adoption. Some states have made facilitators illegal even though they are the proponents of open adoption.

Adoption issues are subject to State laws and regulations. State adoption laws are comprised of laws primarily from two sources, State statutes and State case law. State statutes are provisions enacted by State legislatures that regulate the subject matter of an issue. State case law consists of rules of law that come from the written decisions of judges who hear and decide litigation. Statutes and case law of a particular jurisdiction are binding on future litigation within that jurisdiction.

Additionally, administrative regulations, which are enacted by agencies that have the authority, within certain limits, to make rules that have the force of statutes, also address legal issues in adoption.

The adoption laws in the United States are as clear as mud. Adoptive parents must have the consent of the sending state as well as the receiving state before they can bring their children home, and birth mothers have varying time restraints as to when they have the right to reclaim, depending on where they live.

Both open and closed adoptions need to be legally allowed and respected by all. All states and the federal government need to engage in open dialogue to bring the adoption laws up to a single standard, thereby decreasing the worry, stress, and pain, of the adoption community.