Senator Jon Husted recently wrote an opinion piece on adoption. His opinion is meaningful, because Husted knows whereof he speaks. As he said in his essay, “When my birth mother became pregnant with me, she faced an incredibly difficult choice…she bravely chose adoption. After spending the first two months of my life in foster care, I was blessed to be adopted by Jim and Judy Husted. They decided to build their family in Montpelier, Ohio, starting with me. We’re as close as any family, and I am so grateful I was adopted into a loving home.”
The ADOPT Act of 2023 was introduced and did not become a law, but Senators Amy Klobuchar and Katie Britt re-introduced it last month in the Senate, and Representatives Robert Aderholt , Danny K. Davis , Laurel Lee, and Sydney Kamlager-Dove reintroduced a companion bill in the House. So what is the ADOPT Act, what happened to the ADOPT Act of 2023, why is it being reintroduced, and what are its chances?
What is the ADOPT Act?
The full name of the ADOPT Act is the Adoption Deserves Oversight, Protection and Transparency Act. In 2023, it focused on criminalizing the actions of unlicensed adoption facilitators who sometimes prey upon would-be adoptive parents. The goal was to prevent unregulated individuals from scamming people wanting to adopt and to “prevent the commodification of children.”
The ADOPT Act of 2025 is very similar, but is being considered along with several other bills relating to adoption. This allows it to be presented as part of a multi-bill, bipartisan effort to clean up adoption practices.
“I believe it is incumbent upon Congress to ensure loving parents pursuing adoption to grow their families, expectant mothers working with adoption providers, and children are protected from bad actors seeking to take advantage of the adoption process,” said Senator Britt. “This legislation does just that, establishing necessary oversight in the adoption process to promote transparency and uphold the integrity of adoption in our nation. I’ll always use my position on the federal level to fight for women, children, and families, and I’m proud to join my colleagues in this latest effort to defend those involved in the adoption process from exploitation.”
The bill is supported by leading adoption organizations including the National Council For Adoption (NCFA), Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA), Ethical Family Building, Adoptees United, and Families Rising.
“The ADOPT Act better ensures expectant mothers contemplating adoption have a trustworthy team around them, and that they have all the information and resources available to them before deciding whether to place their child for adoption,” says Ryan Hanlon, president and CEO of National Council For Adoption. “What’s more, the ADOPT Act will spare prospective adoptive families—many of whom consider adoption after a painful infertility journey—time, resources and the heartbreak that so often accompanies signing with a predatory, unlicensed adoption intermediary.”
What happened to the ADOPT Act of 2023?
It died in committee. What does that mean? Thousands of bills are introduced every year, and all senators and Members of the House are expected to vote on them. However, they can’t all be experts in everything. Therefore, the House and the Senate are broken into committees of people with knowledge about particular subjects, such as veterans’ affairs or natural resources. Once they’re introduced in Congress, bills are usually sent to a relevant committee. The members of the committee read it, debate, make changes (that’s called “markup”), and then send it back to the whole House or Senate with a recommendation to approve it or not to.
However, there are so many more bills introduced and sent to committees than Congress actually has time for that many of the bills never get a chance to be considered in the committees. When this happens, we say that the bill died in committee. That’s what happened to the ADOPT Act of 2023.
Why was it reintroduced?
It’s normal for a bill that doesn’t become a law to be introduced again with a new Congress. The ADOPT Act of 2023 was introduced to the 118th Congress and the ADOPT Act of 2025 was introduced to the 119th Congress. Its sponsors hope that it will make it to a vote this time.
If a bill passes in both the House and the Senate, the two parts of Congress get together and negotiate final wording, since both houses might have changed the original bill. Once they agree, the bill goes to the desk of the President of the United States for a signature. Once signed, it’s a law.
But it can years or even decades for this to happen. Just this year, more than 9,000 bills have been introduced and only 46 have become laws. Among those 46, a lot are things like naming a public building. A law that involves serious consideration and debate can take a long time to make it to the president’s desk. It has to be reintroduced each time there’s a new Congress — and that happens ev very two years.
What are its chances?
As you can see from the numbers, any given bill has just a fraction of 1% of a chance to become a law. That’s the statistical average. Some bills are introduced mostly to send a message with little chance of passing and some are very popular and likely to become law. Time will tell with the ADOPT Act.
In the meantime, we recommend that you NOT work with unlicensed, unregulated adoption facilitators. You need an experienced adoption attorney to ensure that your adoption journey is smooth and successful. Heimer Law specializes in adoption. Contact us for a free consultation.
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