Sandra Bullock’s revelation that she is adopting a 3½-month-old baby raises questions about what happens when a couple divorces while an adoption is in progress.

“In almost every case of adoption of a newborn in this country today, the new parent is chosen by the birth parent,” says Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute. And though most birth parents probably would choose a married couple, Pertman says, many types of families are chosen for adoption today, and divorce may not signal the end of an adoption process.

“For almost all states, the standard is: Is the adoption in the best interests of the child?” says Bonnie Rabin, a New York trial lawyer with experience in adoption cases. Considering the tabloid and entertainment magazine reports of infidelity by Jesse James, “it’s unlikely the court is going to find that anyone other than (Bullock) doing it alone would be in the child’s best interest.”

The lag between baby Louis’ arrival in the Bullock household in January and Wednesday’s announcement is common, Rabin says: Courts want to study the child in the custody of the person or family seeking to adopt. The length of time between guardianship and final adoption varies according to state and adoption type.

All these machinations being kept under wraps for so long is “extraordinary,” Rabin says. Bullock “must have so many people around her who wanted to make sure this adoption could go through without a lot of drama.”

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