Adoption by acknowledgment

What does Adoption by acknowledgment mean in American Law?

The definition of Adoption by acknowledgment in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

Not really “adoption” at all in the sense of adoption of child, but a method for the legitimation of a natural child under statutes that provide that if a father acknowledges that a child born out of wedlock is his, it becomes his legitimate child.