The aim of this study is to explore how parents’ opinions and actions related to time are presented in intercountry adoption assessment reports concerning applicants who have been granted consent to adopt. As these reports establish what is required for someone to be categorised as a suitable parent, they construct and display the moral order of parenthood. An analysis of statements about time, as it relates to parental leave, working hours, preschool hours, family activities, leisure time and hobbies, illustrates how meanings of good parenthood are discursively produced. Good parents make time for, and spend time with, their children. They invest in togetherness by exchanging time of lesser value for time of greater value. This officially sanctioned understanding of good parenthood corresponds with the cultural norm of involved, devoted and child-centred parents, and reinforces the romanticised image of quality time and togetherness in the lives of nuclear families.