"On the face of it, it doesn't sound terrible to help a woman get back on her feet after a baby is born, but in most states it's a felony," said Steven Kirsh, past president of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.

Kuster has also worked for many years as an adoption attorney, having been involved in more than 300 adoptions since 1984, and is a member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.

"As the definition of families expands and changes, we see a lot of people considering formalizing the relationships that have shaped their lives, whether it's foster parents or stepparents," said Wright Walling, a Minneapolis lawyer who is the president of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.

The American Academy of Adoption Attorneys is concerned with children's rights to a safe, supportive and stable family structure.

"My specialty is contested adoptions, and the most common contest is where the mom wants to place the baby and the dad objects," said Martin Bauer, president of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.

Mrs. Sandusky has hired Samuel C. Totaro, of Bensalem, Pa., who is the president-elect of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, to file a civil suit against the social worker - not, she said, for a money award, but to argue an adoptee's right to privacy.

"It could put some more risk in, rather than take it away," said Karen Lane, a lawyer in Santa Monica, Calif., who is the president of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, a professional group.

American Academy of Adoption Attorneys The American Academy of Adoption Attorneys is a national association of approximately 330 attorneys who practice, or have otherwise distinguished themselves, in the field of adoption law.