It’s no longer a secret that Kim Kardashian, whose marriage to Kris Humphries lasted less than three months, is now pregnant with her boyfriend Kanye West’s baby. Humphries has acknowledged that lengthening the time of the divorce could cause stress that may be harmful to the baby, he seems to be in no rush. It is clear, however, that Kim is.

Humphries attorney has claimed that Kim is only using her pregnancy as an “opportunity to gain a litigation advantage,” or she is simply using her pregnancy as an excuse to speed up the divorce since there is a clear due date.

International adoptions by U.S. parents fell 7 percent in 2012, continuing a multi-year decline caused partially by stricter adoption laws, the Chicago Tribune reported on January 24. The number of internationally adopted children dropped from 9,320 to 8,668, with most of the children coming from China than from any other country.

"This is a continuation of a trend," said Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. "There's no lack of, if you will, demand in this country," he said. "People would like to adopt more children; the issue is whether those children are available. And they're becoming less and less available, and that's what the numbers show."

China, which sent almost 3,000 children to the United States in 2012, has long been the most popular country for U.S. adoptions. Ethiopia and Russia were popular as well, with 1,568 and 748 adoptions respectively. The report was concluded before Russia banned Americans from adopting Russian children.

Adoption is a complex legal proceeding involving the termination of the legal parental rights of birth parents and the assumption of legal parental responsibilities by the adoptive parents. It is advisable to consult an experienced family law attorney to make sure that your adoption case gets the best possible outcome.

There are several important issues families should know when considering adoption, for example, who can adopt and who selects adoptive parents. In Illinois, any person, male or female, who is not under legal disability, is of legal age and a reputable person can adopt a child, according to the Illinois Adoption Act. Adoptive parent(s) must have resided in Illinois without interruption for at least 6 months. The residency requirement does not apply to adoptions involving relatives. In independent or relative adoptions, the birth parents choose the adoptive parents.

It may be possible for the potential adoptive parents to have the child placed with them temporarily before the actual court proceedings, if the birth parent(s) authorize this. In independent adoptions, a review is completed by court services to ensure that the adoptive parents are capable to adopt a child. In relative adoptions the procedure is different; an investigation form is completed for the guardian ad litem which is eventually sent to the court. A guardian ad litem is “a person appointed by a court as guardian of an infant or other person to act on his or her behalf in a particular action or proceeding.”