The Pennsylvania Decree of Adoption is a legal document issued by a court of law in Pennsylvania in the United States, which grants a permanent legal relationship between the adoptive parents and the adopted child. The Pennsylvania Decree of Adoption establishes the adoptive parents as the legal parents of the child, and grants them the same parental rights and responsibilities as biological parents. There are two types of Pennsylvania Decree of Adoption: Agency Adoption and Independent Adoption. In an Agency Adoption, the birth parent(s) voluntarily place their child with an adoption agency, and the agency assists the adoptive parents in completing the adoption process. In an Independent Adoption, the birth parent(s) voluntarily place their child with the adoptive parents directly, and the adoptive parents complete the adoption process on their own. In either case, once the adoption process is completed, the court issues a Pennsylvania Decree of Adoption.