The adoption process forms a legally recognized parent-child relationship between a child and adopting non-biological parents. This article will help provide information on fundamental questions concerning child adoption.
Will my child know about her adoption?
In most states, no. If you adopt a child, they will not know who the birth parents are. But some states allow children access to this information. Many states also allow biological parents and adopted children to register with the state and exchange information.
Do the birth parents have visitation rights if we adopt a child?
In most states, no, the birth parents don’t have any visitation rights if you are adopting their child because the identities of the birth parents and adoptive parents are not known to each other. Such visitation might be allowed in states where the two sets of parents know each other’s identities (known as “open adoption” states).
What happens to the child’s birth certificate if I adopt a child?
When you adopt a child, a new birth certificate is ordinarily issued, and the child’s last name is changed to that of the adoptive parents. The old birth certificate is sealed and usually is not available to anyone.
What are the basic rules for adoption?
In family law, adoption is the legal procedure by which the “birth parent” (or parents) give up their child to “adoptive parents.”
Under the old adoption rules, once the adoption is final, the child no longer has a parent-child relationship with the birth parents but only with the adoptive parents. This is no longer the case.
Today, one in eight couples is unable to have a baby. In modern adoption, the woman placing a child for adoption maintains 100% control over the process and creates a customized adoption plan. This includes choosing the family and selecting how many contacts she wants with the family before and after placement.
What is an Open Verse Closed Adoption?
In adoption, there are many options adoptive parent(s) can choose. Some women are not interested in knowing or choosing the adoptive parent(s). In contrast, other women insist on developing a relationship with the child’s adopted family.
Open Adoption
In an open adoption, there is at least the exchange of information between the woman placing her child for adoption and the adoptive parent(s).
Openness can mean a variety of things. If everyone agrees, contact can be maintained following the birth and placement of the child.
Closed Adoption
A closed adoption means there is not and will not be any contact between the mother placing her child for adoption and the adoptive parents.
Public and private agencies handle adoptions, and are sometimes done privately between the parties. Usually, the adoptive parents are screened and evaluated, and the child’s placement is monitored for some time.
The process concludes with the approval of the adoption by the appropriate court. This approval formally terminates the birth parent-child relationship. It creates a new parent-child relationship based on the parties’ agreement with the adoptive parents.
How can I find out about what it’s like adopting a child?
You may contact a private adoption agency, a state-regulated adoption agency, or an attorney who handles adoption matters. You can talk to friends who have adopted a child and been through the process.
Many online communities share their experiences and can offer sound advice about their experiences and the adoption process.
Must I use an adoption agency to adopt a child?
Whether or not you have to use an adoption agency to adopt a child depends upon the law of your state. Some states prohibit the so-called “independent” or “private” adoption, an agreement only between the birth parents and the adoptive parents; other states allow such an adoption. In any case, a judge must approve the adoption.
Some state agencies will generally investigate the adoptive parents and prepare a report for the judge who will make that decision.
State and International Adoptions
Resources For Adoptions Between States
Families often adopt children from other States, and children can find permanent families living in other states.
- Adoption Resources from MedlinePlus – adoption links and foster care resources.
- Adopt Us Kids – Raise public awareness about the need for foster and adoptive families.
International Adoption
According to the 2002 Department of Human Services policy, U.S. citizens who want to adopt a child internationally must use either the Hague or the Orphan (non-Hague) process.
Under this policy, the child may immigrate immediately after the adoption in a foreign country or may immigrate to the U.S. to be adopted here.
How Some Countries Work
International adoptions can be complicated and depend mainly on the country in question. Still, you can expect to be evaluated by an agency authorized by the particular country to conduct a preliminary adoption evaluation.
If approved, you will travel to the government, complete the necessary paperwork, and pick up the child.
Depending on the country, some international adoptions will be final at that point. Others will require international adoption approval by an American court. In this regard, a family law attorney specializing in adoptions may be necessary.
Resource For International Adoptions
- International Adoption – This site provides information for U.S. citizens adopting children from abroad and families in other countries adopting U.S. children.
Is the Cost of Adoption Expensive?
Adopting a child is expensive primarily because of the lengthy process and the number of professionals that must be involved in the process. The types of professionals include attorneys, counselors, doctors, and adoption specialists.
As of July 2022, According to national reporting services, the cost of adopting a child in the United States ranges between $20,000 and $45,000.
If the child has been born, the adoptive parents will be responsible for all costs associated with the adoption. The agency or family law attorney will provide you with an estimate of the price in your particular situation.
Suppose the child has not yet been born when the process begins. In that case, the adoptive parents generally must provide for the costs of adopting a child and all reasonable pregnancy-related medical and living expenses of the birth mother. This can amount to several thousand dollars in an adoption search.
What if I can’t afford to adopt a child?
All states participate in a federal program that provides funds to assist people willing to adopt a child with “special needs,” sometimes making it difficult for an agency to place the child.
In addition, some states may help you financially even if the child does not have special needs. An attorney or agency in your state will know if this kind of financial assistance is available.
Will our income level determine our eligibility to adopt a child?
Whether to recommend allowing you to adopt a child, the agency will consider everything that may impact the best interests of the child, including the adoptive parent(s):
- Marital status
- Financial condition
- Sexual orientation
- Age and physical health
- Mental and emotional health
- Religious beliefs
Some of the above factors (such as race) are occasionally challenged. We are still waiting for the law to clarify which factors may or may not be considered.
Must I be married to adopt a child?
Whether or not you must be married to adopt a child will depend upon the law in your state. Some states permit adoption by married couples only.
What about same-sex partnerships adopting a child?
First, the data:
According to a U.S. Census Bureau in 2019, almost fifteen percent of about 1 million same-sex couples in the United States had at least one child under 18 in their household.
The data also indicates that, of the 115,064 same-sex households with children, about 18,400 (16%) were raised at least one adopted child, with 11% of those households being gay male couples.
According to American Adoptions, adoption statistics suggest that more and more gay couples are adopting. In fact, according to many public advocacy groups, same-sex unions are almost four times more likely to already be raising an adopted child.
The move of public opinion towards expanding gay and lesbian rights has also been seen in the right of same-sex couples to legally adopt children.
American public opinion is shifting toward acceptance of gay and lesbian rights, and so is the medical profession.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) now openly supports the legal right for same-sex couples to marry and adopt children have stated that the children’s well-being is affected far more by other factors, such as their parents’ health and economic security, than their particular sexual orientation.
According to the AAP, two parents work better than one parent, assuming they love each other and their child and have the economic and social security to support their child’s development.
Now for the law:
The U.S. Supreme Court Reversal On Privacy Rights
While the U.S. Supreme Court has already spoken on the issue by legalizing same-sex adoption in 2017, most states have been uncomfortably silent.
With the 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Court has moved decidedly to the extreme right by overturning the landmark case of Roe v. Wade. In doing so, the Court also called into doubt the constitutionality of same-sex marriage and, by extension, same-sex adoption.
Even though the Supreme Court’s Courts majority has moved decisively to the far right on abortion, the Pew Research polling shows that 61% of Americans still support same-sex marriage while 31% are against it.
