I was told we could claim adoption related expenses for 2021 even though we were not matched with a child yet, but but turbotax is asking for the child's info.

[GeorgeDenseff]

You can claim the 2021 expenses after you complete the adoption process.  Because the adoption credit is non-refundable, it is often advantageous to spread the expenses out over several years.  That way there is more chance that you will owe enough taxes to offset the credit.  But you can't start claiming the credit before the child is legally adopted.

[Critter-3]

Not possible ... if you have 2021 expenses but the adoption was not completed in 2021 then those are reported on the 2022 return.   And if the adoption is still not final in 2022 then any 2022 expenses are held until the 2023 return ... only the 2021 expenses can be claimed on the 2021 return AND you must be able to provide a name & SS# or ATIN.

[Opus 17]

Maybe.   You have to wait a year to claim expenses.  If the first year of your expenses were 2021, the first year you can claim a credit is 2022.  See here.

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc607

If you started the process in 2020, you can take the credit in 2021.  I'm not sure how you could have 2 years of expenses without ever learning the name of at least one child.  The IRS instructions say to leave blank any information you don't know.  This will probably block you from e-filing so you would have to file by mail and attach a written explanation.