People place children up for adoption for a variety of reasons including finances, age, stability, emotional issues, or a desire to give their child opportunities that they are currently unable to provide.

In all states, the birth mother and the birth father, if he has properly established paternity, hold the primary right of consent of adoption of their child. Either one or both parents may have these rights terminated for a variety of possible reasons, including abandonment, failure to support the child, mental incompetence, or a finding of parental unfitness due to abuse or neglect. When neither birth parent is available to give consent, the responsibility can fall to other legal entities, such as a person or an agency which has custody of the child, a guardian or guardian ad litem, the court having jurisdiction over the child, a close relative of the child, a “next friend” of the child, who is a responsible adult appointed by the court.

The manner in which consent can be executed varies considerably from state to state. In many states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, consent may be executed by a written statement witnessed and/or notarized by a notary public. Other states may require an appearance before a judge or the filing of a petition of relinquishment. Some states require that the parent be provided with counseling, so as to have his or her rights and the legal effect of relinquishment explained to him or her, or is provided with legal counsel prior to consent. In cases in which custody has previously been placed with an agency, the head of the agency may sign an affidavit of consent.

In most states, a birth parent who is a minor is treated no differently than other birth parents. However, in some states, the minor parent must be provided with separate counsel prior to execution of consent, or a guardian ad litem must be appointed to either review or execute the consent. In six states, Guam, and Puerto Rico, the consent of the minor's parents must be obtained.

The noble purpose behind adoption is to create a permanent and stable home for a child and, hence, a validly executed relinquishment and consent to adopt is intended to be final and irrevocable. As a result, the right of a birth parent to revoke consent is strictly limited. States like Mississippi, Nebraska, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands make no provisions in statute for revocation of consent and Massachusetts and Utah specifically require that all consents are irrevocable. In most states, the law provides that consent may be revoked prior to the entry of the final adoption decree under specific circumstances or within specified time limits.

The circumstances under which withdrawal of consent may be permitted include consent obtained by fraud, duress or coercion, or in cases where the birth parent is provided with a time frame for rethink after which the consent becomes irrevocable, unless it is in the best interests of the child. Consent can also be revoked if the birth parents and adoptive parents mutually agree to withdraw the consent.

Open adoption is an adoption that allows for an ongoing relationship among the birth family, adoptive family, and adoptee. Fully open adoptions can often include extended family members such as birth grandparents and siblings. This often includes regular exchange of photos and letters.

If foreign-born child is an orphan and if he/she does not have parents due to death, disappearance, abandonment, separation of parents or if the sole surviving parent is unable to care for child and releases rights to child in writing allowing for emigration and adoption, the child may gain immigration benefits provided an orphan petition is filed before his/her 16th birthday. An orphan petition may be filed before the child's 18th birthday if the child has natural siblings that are also orphaned or adopted and the child is to be adopted by the same adoptive parents at the same time of after the siblings.