From a legal and psychological standpoint, this article examines some aspects involved in adoption, including the effects of the alterations made to the Statute of Children and Adolescents by the National Adoption Law. It verifies whether or not the Law accelerated the performance of adoption processes. This paper is based on bibliographic searches and statistics from Rio Grande do Sul. Results show that the Law was innovative in many aspects but ceased to tackle others, such as adoption by homosexuals. Proceedings have become more bureaucratic, and the number of adoptions in the state, according to the records, remains insignificant. The New Law has not yet achieved its objective of accelerating the adoption process. Institutional sheltering, which should be temporary, at times becomes permanent, which contradicts the right of children/adolescents to family life and results in significant psychological damage to them.
Adoption; Legal processes; Psychological aspects; Statute of Children and Adolescents