Are all adoption proceedings the same?
No. There are four types of adoption proceedings, each requiring different procedures, court forms and documents. The four types are as follows:

Related	Either or both of the adopting parents are related to the child in any of the following ways: biologically, through adoption, or by marriage. The relationship must be any of the following: biological parent, stepparent, grandparent stepgrandparent, sibling, stepsibling, uncle, aunt, great uncle, great aunt or first cousin.
Agency	The adopting parents received the child from a placement made by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services or a private licensed adoption agency.
Private	The adopting parents received the child directly from the biological parents.
Adult	The person to be adopted is 18 years of age or older and is either related to the adopting parents or has lived with them for at least 2 years. The biological parents of the adult being adopted do not have to consent to or receive notice of this type of adoption.

In addition, adoption proceedings are impacted by whether the child to be adopted was born or resided in another country, or a state other than Illinois. Adoptions proceedings can also be impacted if the adoptive parents move out of state or to another country.