How to Adopt a Child in California: Steps, Costs, and Assistance

To adopt a child in California, you pick an adoption path (agency, independent, stepparent, foster care, or international), pass a home study, file an adoption petition in the superior court, complete about six months of post-placement supervision, and appear at a final hearing where a judge signs the adoption decree. Every path shares that spine. The paperwork, the timeline, and the cost depend heavily on which path you’re on, so the first real decision is choosing the right one.

Choose Your Adoption Path

California recognizes five main types of adoption. Your choice determines who holds custody before placement, who selects the family, how consent works, and how much you’ll spend.

Agency Adoption

A licensed public or private agency takes custody of the child and manages placement. Birth parents relinquish their parental rights to the agency by signing a written statement in front of two witnesses and an authorized agency official.1California Legislative Information. California Family Code 8700 – Relinquishment The agency matches children with approved families, counsels birth parents, and supervises the placement. You get more structural support this way, but the agency controls the timeline and the match.

Independent Adoption

Independent adoption is a direct arrangement between birth parents and adoptive parents, usually with help from an attorney or adoption service provider. Birth parents choose the family themselves.2California Courts. Independent Adoption in California The non-placing birth parent signs a consent form before a representative of the California Department of Social Services or a delegated county adoption agency.3California Legislative Information. California Family Code 8814 – Consent to Adoption

After signing, a birth parent has 30 days to revoke the consent by delivering a written statement to the department or county agency. They can also waive the revocation right earlier by signing a waiver before an agency representative or, if they have independent counsel, before a judge. If neither revocation nor waiver happens, the consent becomes permanent on the 31st day.4California Legislative Information. California Family Code 8814.5 – Revocation of Consent Until that window closes, the adoption can unravel.

Stepparent Adoption

Stepparent adoption lets you adopt the biological child of your spouse. The non-custodial biological parent’s rights must end first, either through voluntary consent or a court order. When the absent parent cooperates, it’s the simplest path. When they don’t, you may need a finding of abandonment.

California treats a child as abandoned when one parent has left the child in the other parent’s care for at least one year without providing support or communicating, and the court finds intent to abandon. If both parents or a sole parent left the child with someone else, the threshold drops to six months. Failure to provide support or communicate is presumptive evidence of intent, and token efforts don’t count.5California Legislative Information. California Family Code 7822 – Abandonment

Foster Care Adoption

Adopting from foster care is the least expensive path and one of the most common. If you want to foster with the goal of adopting, you’ll start with the Resource Family Approval (RFA) process. RFA is California’s single approval pathway for foster care, guardianship, and adoption, combining what used to be separate steps into one process that includes a family evaluation, home environment assessment, background checks, and training.6California Department of Social Services. Resource Family Approval Program

Children adopted from foster care are often eligible for the Adoption Assistance Program, which is covered in the costs section below.

International Adoption

International adoption brings a child from another country into California and requires compliance with both federal immigration law and California adoption statutes. If the adoption was finalized abroad, California residents must file a readoption petition within 60 days of the child entering the United States, or before the child’s 16th birthday, whichever comes first.7California Legislative Information. California Family Code 8919 – Readoption of Foreign-Born Child Readoption creates a California court record that makes it far easier for the child to later prove the adoption for purposes like a U.S. birth certificate, school enrollment, or inheritance.

Miss the 60-day deadline and the agency that facilitated the placement is required to file the petition within 90 days, with the cost passed on to the parents.8California Courts. California Rules of Court Rule 5.493 – Readoption of Foreign-Born Child

Who Can Adopt in California

California’s eligibility rules are broadly inclusive. Any adult can adopt, subject to a few baseline requirements.

You must be at least 10 years older than the child. The court can waive that age gap for stepparent adoptions and adoptions by close relatives (siblings, aunts, uncles, and first cousins) whenever the court finds the adoption serves the child’s best interest.9California Legislative Information. California Family Code 8601 – Age Requirement

Single adults can adopt. Couples who adopt jointly must be legally married or registered as domestic partners.10California Courts. Adoptions You’re generally expected to be a California resident, though the specific residency rule varies by adoption type.

The Home Study

The home study is where the state takes a serious look at whether you’re ready to parent an adopted child. A licensed social worker conducts the investigation, and the report either approves or denies your application. Every adoption type requires one, and it’s the most time-intensive part of the pre-placement process.

Documents You’ll Need

Assemble the packet before the home study starts. Expect to provide government-issued photo ID, birth certificates for every household member, marriage or domestic partnership certificates (or divorce decrees if applicable), financial statements, proof of employment and income, and current medical reports. Most agencies also ask for an autobiographical statement about your childhood, relationships, and reasons for adopting.

Background Checks

Every adult in your home must be fingerprinted and pass a criminal background check. Convictions involving child abuse, domestic violence, or other serious offenses can disqualify an applicant, though the social worker weighs the full picture when evaluating fitness to parent.

Interviews and Home Visits

The social worker interviews you and your spouse or partner about personal history, parenting approach, understanding of adoption-related challenges, and readiness for the responsibilities involved. Other adults in the household are interviewed too. The social worker also inspects the home for basic safety: working smoke detectors, adequate space, and childproofing. It doesn’t need to be luxurious. It needs to be safe.

Filing the Adoption Petition

Once the home study is approved and a child has been placed with you, you file an adoption petition (formally called an “adoption request”) in the superior court. The statute you file under depends on the type of adoption:

The petition must include your name but not the child’s name in the caption. The body of the petition states the child’s sex, date of birth, and pre-adoption name. If you’ve entered a post-adoption contact agreement with birth relatives, you must file that agreement with the court before the adoption is finalized.11California Legislative Information. California Family Code 8714 – Agency Adoption Petition

Post-Placement Supervision and the Final Hearing

After the child is placed in your home, the adoption agency supervises the placement for at least six months. A social worker makes a minimum of four visits during that period, and at least one visit must happen in the home with you and the child together.14Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 22 35203 – Supervision of the Adoptive Placement The purpose is to observe how the child is adjusting and confirm the placement continues to serve the child’s interests.

The six-month period can be shortened. If you completed another adoption in California within the past five years with an approved assessment, the agency has discretion to reduce the timeline. If the child was previously your foster child, supervision can be reduced by one month for each full month the child lived with you in foster care before the adoptive placement began.14Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 22 35203 – Supervision of the Adoptive Placement

The adoption concludes at a hearing where a judge reviews the petition, the home study, and the supervision records. You, the child, and your attorney typically appear. If everything is in order, the judge signs the adoption decree, which permanently establishes the legal parent-child relationship. Many California courts treat finalization day as a celebration, and some judges invite families to take photos in the courtroom.

After the Judge Signs

Once the adoption order is signed, the court prepares a Court Report of Adoption (Form VS 44) and sends it to the California Department of Public Health. The department then issues an amended birth certificate with the adoptive parents’ names. To register the adoption and receive the new certificate, mail in the certified VS 44 form, a certified copy of the adoption order, a notarized sworn statement (unless a court clerk submits the request), and the required fee.15California Department of Public Health. The Adoption Process (VS 44)

The original birth certificate is sealed after the amended certificate issues. Accessing it later requires a separate court petition, which the file treats as a distinct process outside adoption itself.16California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 102705 – Adoption Records

What Adoption Costs and What Help Is Available

Costs vary widely by path. Foster care adoption is typically free or close to it, with the state covering most fees and providing ongoing support through the Adoption Assistance Program. Private agency and independent adoptions are far more expensive. Home study fees alone commonly run $1,500 to $4,500, and total costs for a private domestic adoption often reach $20,000 to $50,000 or more once you include agency fees, attorney fees, and birth parent living expenses. International adoption tends to land in a similar or higher range because of travel, translation, and foreign government fees.

Federal Adoption Tax Credit

The federal adoption tax credit offsets some of these expenses. For adoptions finalized in 2026, the maximum credit is $17,280 per eligible child.17Internal Revenue Service. Notable Changes to the Adoption Credit The credit covers qualified adoption expenses such as attorney fees, court costs, and travel, and it phases out at higher income levels based on modified adjusted gross income.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 23 – Adoption Expenses The credit is now partially refundable up to $5,000 per qualifying child, so families with little or no federal tax liability can still receive some benefit.

Adoption Assistance Program

Families adopting from foster care should negotiate an Adoption Assistance Program (AAP) agreement before the adoption is finalized. AAP provides a monthly payment based on the child’s care and supervision needs, Medi-Cal coverage, and reimbursement of up to $400 per child in nonrecurring adoption expenses. The monthly rate is negotiable and can be renegotiated later, but it cannot exceed what the child would have received in foster care. There is no income test, and benefits continue regardless of where the family later moves. Benefits can continue until the child turns 18, or 21 in some cases.19California Department of Social Services. Adoption Assistance Program

The timing matters. The AAP agreement must be completed before the judge signs the adoption order. Finalize first, apply later, and you lose eligibility.