Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73
§14901 Findings and purposes
Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 143— - INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTIONS › § 14901
Summary
Implements the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption (done at The Hague on May 29, 1993), requires a uniform U.S. and international approach, protects the rights of children, birth families, and adoptive parents and prevents abuse, ensures adoptions are in children’s best interests, and improves federal help for international adoptions.
Full Legal Text
Title 42, §14901
The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Congress recognizes—
(1)the international character of the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (done at The Hague on May 29, 1993); and
(2)the need for uniform interpretation and implementation of the Convention in the United States and abroad,
(b)The purposes of this chapter are—
(1)to provide for implementation by the United States of the Convention;
(2)to protect the rights of, and prevent abuses against, children, birth families, and adoptive parents involved in adoptions (or prospective adoptions) subject to the Convention, and to ensure that such adoptions are in the children’s best interests; and
(3)to improve the ability of the Federal Government to assist United States citizens seeking to adopt children from abroad and residents of other countries party to the Convention seeking to adopt children from the United States.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 106–279, Oct. 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 825, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see
Short Title
note set out below and Tables.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
s; Transition Rule Pub. L. 106–279, title V, § 505, Oct. 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 844, provided that: “(a)
Effective Date
s.—“(1) Provisions effective upon enactment.—section 2, 3, 101 through 103, 202 through 205, 401(a), 403, 503, and 505(a) [enacting this section and section 14902, 14911 to 14913, 14922 to 14924, 14941(a), 14943, and 14953 of this title and amending section 622 of this title] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 6, 2000]. “(2) Provisions effective upon the entry into force of the convention.—Subject to subsection (b), the provisions of this Act not specified in paragraph (1) [enacting section 14914, 14921, 14931, 14932, 14941(b), (c), 14942, 14944, 14951, 14952, and 14954 of this title, amending section 1101 and 1154 of Title 8, Aliens and Nationality, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section] shall take effect upon the entry into force of the Convention [Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption] for the United States pursuant to Article 46(2)(a) of the Convention [The Convention entered into force for the United States on Apr. 1, 2008.]. “(b) Transition Rule.—The Convention and this Act [see
Short Title
note below] shall not apply—“(1) in the case of a child immigrating to the United States, if the application for advance processing of an orphan petition or petition to classify an orphan as an immediate relative for the child is filed before the
Effective Date
described in subsection (a)(2); or “(2) in the case of a child emigrating from the United States, if the prospective adoptive parents of the child initiated the adoption process in their country of residence with the filing of an appropriate application before the
Effective Date
described in subsection (a)(2).”
Short Title
of 2020 Amendment Pub. L. 116–184, § 1, Oct. 30, 2020, 134 Stat. 897, provided that: “This Act [amending section 14914 of this title and enacting provisions set out as notes under section 14914 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Intercountry Adoption Information Act of 2019’.”
Short Title
of 2013 Amendment Pub. L. 112–276, § 1, Jan. 14, 2013, 126 Stat. 2466, provided that: “This Act [enacting section 14925 of this title, amending section 14922 and 14943 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 14925 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Intercountry Adoption Universal Accreditation Act of 2012’.”
Short Title
Pub. L. 106–279, § 1(a), Oct. 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 825, provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter and amending section 622 of this title and section 1101 and 1154 of Title 8, Aliens and Nationality] may be cited as the ‘Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000’.”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
42 U.S.C. § 14901
Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73