Adopting can mean many things when talking about chinchillas.
I never referred to some one getting a chinchilla as me "selling" it or them "buying" it ... to me ... that sounds to much like things that are not living and will eventually get thrown away ...
When someone would get a chinchilla from me, I had to make sure they really wanted it and would take good care of it ... and ... if they ever decided they could no longer care for it, it would come back to me ... my chinchillas were "adopted" as "new members of their family" ... a forever part of their family ... if I felt they did not feel the same way ... they could not have one of my little ones to take home with them.
Adopting is also a reference used when getting a rescue chin ... one that needs a new home because the current owner can no longer care for it properly.
Adopting is also a reference to a chinchilla that is given to you to care for because it has medical problems or a disability of some kind and needs special care.
Adopting is getting a living thing that you really want and will care for it ... not something to show off, or brag about, or to make you "look" like a better person ... but something you will love, cherish and care for always ... something you have wanted for a long time and finly get.
At least, that's what adoption means to me.
Jo Ann