ABSTRACT
Except for federal requirements that pre-adoptive parents must meet and the regulations that define the meaning of orphan status, agencies, facilitators, and sending country officials set their own standards, both formal and informal, about which clients they accept and which children they refer to particular clients. Although it is very big business indeed, international adoption has been largely unregulated at the federal level. That is, policy and practices with regard to adoptions are set by individual states. Respondents were asked items in bold about both the state and federal governments. Respondents were asked items in italics only about state governments and items in bold italics only about the federal government. Because governments are expected to protect their citizens from harm the state and the federal governments should play in regards to the handling of international adoptions by licensed agencies that place children with American families.
