When most people think of adoption, they think of babies or children.  However, in many states (including Washington), a person may be adopted at any age.

Any person may be adopted, regardless of his or her age or residence.

RCW 26.33.140

Washington law requires that a person who is over the age of 14 consent to being adopted.  Thus, the decision to adopt an adult or older teenager must be a mutual one. Although adult adoption is somewhat unusual, there are a number of reasons why one adult may decide to adopt another.

A step-parent and adult step-child may wish to establish a legal parent-child relationship for both symbolic and practical purposes (such as ensuring that the step-child can inherit from the step-parent).  Or, an adult without legal parents who has developed a parent-like relationship with another (presumably older) adult may desire legal recognition of that special relationship.

Two different stories of how an adult came to be adopted have been in the media recently.  In a Father’s Day themed edition, the radio show This American Life told the story of two inmates who developed a father-son relationship while incarcerated. And, Oprah.com currently features an article about a family that adopted a 20 year old who had been part of their family for many years.  Check out those stories here and here.