A qualitative research was developed with two adopting families, based on focal group interview conducted by the Adoption Service of a Childhood and Adolescence Law Court. According to the participants, the main aspects of the psychosocial study are: the way that families are evaluated; the importance of telling the truth to the adopted child; undergoing the psychosocial study during the process of adoption; the necessity of informative campaigns; the role of chance and of the divine in correctly chosing the child; and the trust in the technical work. The data indicated that the judiciary context can be an important catalyst of change, but it can also be the forerumer of arbitrary decisions, specially in Brazil, where inequality and lack of citizenship are still exist. Essentially, it's fundamental to understand the judiciary context not as a context of limits, but as a context of possibilities.
adoption; adopting families; judiciary context; psychosocial evaluation