Relative adoption is when an immediate family member adopts children placed in foster care. This includes, siblings, nieces, nephews and grandchildren. This process is less complicated than normal adoption procedures and termination of parental rights by birth parents is still required (Mintzer, Relative, 2003, 243). Also, with relative adoption, the adoptive parents have general knowledge about the birth parents and the situation which caused the children to be placed in a foster home or relative care. Birth parents may feel a sense of ease knowing that their children are placed with someone they know and trust (244). However, relative adoptions can cause tensions during the adoption process. For example, the birth mother could be
