Nathaniel S. Hibben (J.D. 2009, Liberty) has published Comment, The Inequitable Tax Benefits of Adoption, 4 Liberty U. L. Rev. 135 (2009). Here is the abstract:

This Comment examines the two provisions of the Internal Revenue Code under which taxpayers may defray expenses incurred in adopting a child. First, under 137, taxpayers may exclude from income qualified adoption expenses paid or reimbursed by the taxpayer's employer pursuant to an adoption assistance program. There is no benefit gap under the exclusion-from-income provision; the value is identical to taxpayers regardless of income.

Second, under § 23, an adoptive family receives a credit against tax liability to help discharge adoption-related expenses. Because this credit only discharges positive tax liability, only higher-income taxpayers are fully benefitted by the credit. Taxpayers without sufficient tax liability in the current year may carry forward unused portions of the credit for up to five years. However, simple present value analysis shows that, by carrying forward unused portions of the credit, these families receive less of a benefit than do families with higher income who are able to immediately claim the full credit. This benefit gap increases as family income decreases. Families without tax liability are not benefitted by the adoption credit. The amount of the adoption credit is indexed annually for inflation, but this indexation only increases the benefit gap between higher- and middle-income taxpayers. This Comment proposes multiple solutions to the current inequitable tax benefit paradigm, and it ultimately proposes a new business tax credit for businesses that provide adoption benefits to their employees.