The adoption of children needs to be studied in its legal, psychological, social and cultural aspects. The purpose of this study is to characterize the children, the birth and adopting families involved in adoption processes in Ribeirão Preto - SP, from 1991 to 2000. One-hundred ten judicial processes were analyzed through descriptive statistics. Most of the adoptions that prevailed were those of the "ready" type; in which the adopting ones go through the judicial system for the adoption of a child, who they met through mediators or institutions. The adopting families belong to middle and lower classes and have different motivations for the adoption, like infertility and bond established with the child. The biological families belong to the lower classes and make use their social network to support their children. When this help is worn out, they hand their children over for adoption. This study shows the need to understand of the "ready" adoptions as well as what motivates biological families to give a child up for adoption.
Adoption; adopting family; Judicial Psychology
