Relating to unlawful adoption activity.
HB 3770 amends Oregon’s criminal code to expand the existing offense of buying or selling a person under 18 to expressly include conduct related to adoption. Under the bill, buying or selling a minor’s legal or physical custody for any purpose, including adoption, remains a Class B felony, while the measure clarifies several exceptions so that lawful adoption-related fees, certain child support settlements tied to stepparent adoption, DHS or licensed agency fees, surrogacy-related fees, and domestic relations negotiations are not treated as criminal conduct.
The bill also creates a new misdemeanor offense called unlawful adoption activity. A person commits this crime if they knowingly place or offer a child for adoption when they are not the child’s birth parent, advertise that they will place a child for adoption, solicit a child for adoption through public advertising, or accept, supply, provide, or obtain a child for adoption. This new offense is a Class C misdemeanor, with exceptions for persons acting on behalf of an Oregon-licensed adoption agency and, for certain advertising-related conduct, Oregon-licensed attorneys.
HB 3770 would add new criminal provisions to ORS chapter 163 and amend ORS 163.537 to make adoption-related trafficking and unauthorized adoption placement explicitly punishable under state law. It would affect prospective adoptive parents, birth parents, intermediaries, adoption agencies, attorneys, and others involved in adoption-related transactions by drawing a clearer line between lawful adoption services and prohibited child-placement activity. The bill would also reinforce existing adoption and custody rules by preserving specified lawful fees and settlements while criminalizing unauthorized advertising and placement of children for adoption.
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes in the provided materials, the overall sentiment appears to be precautionary and enforcement-oriented rather than controversial in the record available here. The measure is framed as a child-protection and anti-trafficking bill, suggesting support for preventing exploitation in adoption contexts. However, the inclusion of explicit exceptions for agencies, attorneys, surrogacy, and domestic relations matters indicates an effort to avoid sweeping legitimate family-law practices into the criminal code.
The main points of potential contention are the breadth of the new misdemeanor offense and how it may interact with lawful adoption, surrogacy, and family-law practices. Questions could arise over what counts as “placing” or “offering” a child for adoption, especially in informal or private arrangements, and whether the advertising provisions could be read too broadly. Another likely issue is the distinction between prohibited conduct and permitted activity by licensed adoption agencies and Oregon attorneys, since those carve-outs suggest concern about overcriminalization and unintended effects on legitimate adoption services.