National Adoption Month

National Adoption Month, observed throughout November, celebrates the many ways adoption creates lasting connections and gives children and youth the opportunity to grow in safe, supportive, and loving families. It honors adoptive parents, birth families, adoptees, social workers, and others whose care and dedication help make these journeys possible.

Throughout the month, communities are encouraged to learn more about adoption, recognize the experiences and voices of adoptees, and support children and young people in foster care who are waiting for permanent families. National Adoption Month also highlights the importance of compassion, understanding, and informed support for everyone touched by adoption.

National Adoption Month is observed throughout November in the United States to raise awareness about adoption, recognize adoptive families, and draw attention to children and young people who are waiting for permanent families. Its history is closely connected to efforts by child-welfare agencies, adoption professionals, courts, community organizations, and families to promote adoption from foster care and improve public understanding of the adoption process.

The observance developed from state-level initiatives in the 1970s. In 1976, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis proclaimed an Adoption Week to focus attention on children in foster care who needed permanent homes. The idea spread, and in 1984 President Ronald Reagan issued a presidential proclamation establishing National Adoption Week. As awareness campaigns grew, the observance was expanded during the administration of President George H. W. Bush so that adoption-related education and advocacy could take place throughout November.

Over time, National Adoption Month evolved beyond encouraging adoptions alone. Its programs have increasingly addressed the experiences and rights of everyone involved in adoption, including birth parents, adopted people, adoptive parents, siblings, and children in foster care. Public agencies and nonprofit organizations use the month to explain adoption requirements, share information about foster-care adoption, recognize families, and promote support services such as counseling, post-adoption assistance, and help for young people transitioning from care.

Culturally, the observance reflects a broader understanding that adoption is a lifelong experience rather than a single legal event. It encourages honest conversations about identity, family history, loss, race, culture, and belonging, while also recognizing the many forms that families can take. By focusing public attention throughout November, National Adoption Month seeks both to celebrate families formed through adoption and to encourage communities to provide stable, permanent, and supportive homes for children who need them.