This paper deals with the adoption of a child with an emphasis on the rights of the child, that is, the adoptee before, during and after the initiation of the adoption procedure. In the first part of the paper, the history of adoption and children's rights is analysed, then the assumptions for adoption on the part of the adopter and adoptee and the legal effect arising from adoption are stated. After that, the standard of the best interest of the child is analyzed and finally the most important rights of the adoptee during the adoption are stated. For a child who is not guaranteed the care of the biological family, one of the alternative care options is adoption. Adoption is still the most drastic form of taking care of a child without adequate parental care, since the child completely loses all contact with biological relatives and enters a new family union. Accordingly, it is always necessary to assess whether it is really in the child's best interest. When starting the adoption procedure, as well as after, special attention should be paid to the rights of the child. It is these, if they are provided, that guarantee that the adoption will be in accordance with the child's well-being, i.e. it will enable the child to move easily to a new family and ultimately contribute to the development of the adopted child so that he becomes a stable member of the community.