A child who is disrupted is usually put first into foster care, pending placement with a new family, unless they reach the age of 18 and legally become adults before this happens.
Authorities believe that an underground, possibly illegal, network has arisen in the U.S. over the past decade to help these parents disrupt their adoptions.
Many parents who disrupt adoptions are unwilling to talk openly about the process due to the social stigma attached.
One of the rare public accounts of a disruption took place in 2000 when the CBS News program 48 Hours told the story of Jesse and Crystal Money, an Atlanta-area couple who ultimately decided to disrupt the adoption of their nine-year-old Russian-born daughter and return her to the orphanage in Moscow she had previously lived in.
The girl had severe reactive attachment disorder and the family feared for their physical safety due to her increasing violence.
In 2005, investigative journalist Ann McElhinney and Irish Production Company Esras Films reunited the young boy with his natural mother, Suryani.
"[7] In 2020, it emerged that YouTubers Myka and James Stauffer had decided to "rehome" their child, Huxley, who was adopted by the couple from China in 2017.
[8] The couple was aware the child has mental disabilities before the adoption but had decided to proceed after "God softened [their] hearts".
[9] After medical professionals determined these disabilities specifically include autism and a brain cyst, the couple proceeded with rehoming when allegedly told "he needed a different fit".