Adoption and Conversion

Parents who adopt a child should try to learn the birth mother's religion. If the birth mother is Jewish then the child is a born Jew. If there is any doubt as to the birth mother's religion, then it should be assumed that the child was not born Jewish. Jewish parents adopting a baby will likely want to convert him or her to Judaism. The actual conversion process is easiest when the child is an infant or toddler.

A Jewish infant boy who is adopted should have his brit on his eighth day. An infant boy not born to a Jewish mother may have a brit on any day except the Sabbath or a Jewish holiday. An infant circumcised at birth in the hospital or an older boy or adult who is already circumcised must have token circumcision, according to Orthodox and Conservative Rabbinic authorities. This is a procedure known as Hatafat Dam Brit (drawing the blood of the covenant). Peformed by Rabbi Cooper, Hatafa is a quick and painless procedure. Hatafa satisfies the requirement of ritual circumcision.