While regulations vary from state to state, adoption experts say that licensing authorities generally place few limits on private agencies' financial practices or fees.

And adoption experts say the results might differ substantially for children adopted after the age of 3.

And while experiences like theirs are rare, they are becoming increasingly familiar to adoption experts, who have a name for the outcome: "disruption."

In many states, fewer than 100 men register each year - not surprising, adoption experts say, because most young men have never heard of the registries.

But other adoption experts were less sanguine.

One adoption expert said today that the Supreme Court decision may make all parties involved in adoptions more careful.

Some adoption experts said that even with these restrictions, listings on the Internet should be used cautiously.

While it is illegal in New York for lawyers to place children, adoption experts say they frequently do.

You'll be invited to a public information meeting to discuss the process with adoption experts, adoptive parents and social workers.

That decision, several adoption experts said, has emboldened more unwed fathers to try to revoke children's adoptions, although several state courts have ruled against them.