Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 210, § 5B (2026)

Adoptive custody; factors considered; request for religious designation

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 5B. In making orders for adoption, the judge shall consider the need of the child for loving and responsible parental care and all factors relevant to the physical, mental and moral health of the child.

If, at the time of surrender of the child for adoptive custody, the parent or parents of said child requested a religious designation for the child, the court may grant a petition for adoption of the child only to a person or persons of the religious designation so requested, unless a placement for adoptive custody based on such request would not have been in the best interests of the child. If a request for religious designation is not given effect, such reasons in support of such determination shall be made a part of the records of the proceedings.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 8 cases, 1962–2009 · leading case: Adoption of Tammy, 619 N.E.2d 315 (Mass. 1993).

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Adoption of Tammy, 619 N.E.2d 315 (Mass. 1993). · cites it 2× “" G.L.c. 210, §§ 5B, 6. Additionally, we have stated, with regard to establishing the status of legal parent, that the judge "must look at the relationship [between the parent and the child] as a whole, and consider emotional bonds, economic support, custody of the child, the…”

Adoption of Vito, 728 N.E.2d 292 (Mass. 2000). “See G. L. c. 210, § 5B. See also Adoption of a Minor, *558 362 Mass.”

Adoption of Rico, 905 N.E.2d 552 (Mass. 2009). “See G. L. c. 210, § 5B. 17 The second observation specifically concerns postadoption *759 visitation orders.”

Adoption of Brooke, 679 N.E.2d 569 (Mass. App. Ct. 1997). · cites it 5× “We must decide whether her counsel was ineffective 2 in failing to assert at trial that the Department of Social Services (department), by placing Brooke in a non-Christian pre-adoptive home despite her Catholic mother’s request to the contrary, violated the mother’s rights…”

Adoption of a Minor, 327 N.E.2d 875 (Mass. 1975). “” Perhaps because the petition for adoption by the grandmother and her husband was filed by consent on the day of the hearing and decree, the case has not been argued in these terms.”

Adoption of Galen, 680 N.E.2d 70 (Mass. 1997). “Furthermore, G. L. c. 210, § 5B, provides that, in making orders for adoption, the judge shall consider “the need of the child for loving and responsible parental care and all factors relevant to the physical, mental and moral health of the child.”

Revocation of Appointment of a Guardian of a Minor, 271 N.E.2d 621 (Mass. 1971). “The reported evidence requires, under our applicable decisions, that the mother shall not be allowed to revoke her surrender of the child and her consent to its adoption. Because the basic issue (of the revocation of the surrender and consent) in effect has been tried fully, we…”

Adoption of a Minor, 181 N.E.2d 341 (Mass. 1962). “There was compliance with G. L. c. 210, § 5B.”

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