LGBTQ+ Parents & Adoption/Foster Services

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Orange County Social Services Agency 

Children & Family Services Division

1-888-871-KIDS
County Directory Assistance 855-886-5400

OC County Adoption Services 

California Association of Adoption Agencies (CAAA)

A nonprofit, professional organization of over 70 licensed public and private adoption agencies in California. 

Adoption is the permanent, legal transfer of parental rights and responsibilities from a child’s birth parents to the adoptive parents. Any California adoption agency that provides domestic adoption services must serve LGBTQ+ applicants. There are four basic ways to adopt: international adoption of a child from another country; adoption through a private adoption agency; independent adoption arranged directly with the birth parents; and adoption of children in foster care through a public agency. 

Note: when it comes to international adoptions, other countries are not bound by US laws, and many of them do prohibit or limit adoptions based on marital status  and LGBTQ+ status. 

• Permits single LGBTQ individuals to adopt
• Permits a same-sex couple to adopt
• Permits a same-sex partner to adopt their partner’s child or child of the relationship
• You must be at least 10 years older than the adoptive child, and there is no set age limit
• You do not have to be married to be able to adopt, but the state does require those who are married to have been married at least 2 years

Same-sex adoption in California has been legal since 2003.