Orphanage (Glossary)

Orphanage: Orphanages are no longer a part of the American adoption process, but do still play a significant role in the process of adopting from many international countries.

Known by many different names, orphanages are a home where children are housed if their birth parents have decided they can't care for them any longer or if their birth parents have died.

Most countries that have a Government run adoption process utilize orphanages for the children available for adoption in their country. Other countries with privately run adoption process may also use orphanages, but often times, those orphanages are privately owned and run and are called by a different name, like in Guatemala where they are commonly referred to as an hogar ("home" in Spanish).