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In most cases, newborns enter the system with everyone expecting that he/she will be reunited with bio family. Then the child waits in foster care until their parents either pass or fail the caseplan. Only if the parents fail the caseplan will the child be freed for adoption. Caseplans can take 6 to 18 months (on average) before the outcome is determined. Therefore most infants are not free for adoption while they're infants - they may come into care while they're infants, but the person accepting them takes a risk with an outcome that won't be known for a year or so, usually.
Some agencies/officers/social workers are good at predicting which ones will pass and which will fail, and some are bad at it.
A friend of mine is on her 6th and 7th placements that were supposed to be freed for adoption while they were in her care. Numbers 1-5 went home already. This sib pair (one infant and one toddler) still might, but the longer the case drags on the more likely they'll stay with her. It can be heartbreaking if you're not prepared for it.
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