Types of Adoption and Legal Rights
Types of Adoption
1. Agency Adoption
There are two different types of adoption agencies: private and public. A private adoption agency usually works with parents who are expecting a child and wish to give that child up for adoption. Private adoption agencies can be religious, political or social organizations, and are in most cases non-profit or not-for-profit. A public adoption agency is normally run by the state or federal government, and is a medium through which abandoned or mistreated children can be moved from state custody into new adoptive homes. In the case of private adoption, adoptive children are usually infants; public adoption agencies work with children that are older, sometimes in their teens.
In either case, biological parents usually retain no rights to the child after the adoption papers have been signed. The adoptive parents never meet the biological parents, and neither knows the names of the other. In some cases, the child is legally allowed to meet the biological parents following the eighteenth birthday.
2. Independent Adoptions
In this case, there is no agency “middle man” for the adoption process. Usually, biological parents meet adoptive parents through lawyers, ministers or other intermediaries and arrange the adoption between themselves. Regardless, an attorney should handle the paperwork and the legal aspects of adoption.
Independent adoptions can be complicated, and can cause heartache for both sides. Rather than impersonal agency adoption, biological parents often request scheduled visits with the child or even joint custody. Authorities argue over whether or not this is good for the child, but it is certainly difficult for the adoptive parents.
3. Identified Adoptions
This is the best way to go when an adoption process begins as independent. For example, if an adoptive family is introduce to an expectant mother through an attorney or minister, the two parties usually meet. In an identified adoption, the biological parents would then contact an agency to handle the rest of the procedure. This protects both families from legal obstruction, and can make the entire process run much more smoothly.
Also, rather than waiting on a list for months or years, the adoptive family is able to skip the waiting process and move forward with the adoption, while still retaining the anonymity of agency adoption.
4. International Adoptions
This type of adoption involves an American family adopting a child that is a citizen of another country. The laws surrounding this type of adoption are more complex than domestic adoptions, but can still be completed. The adoptive parents must obtain an immigrant visa for the child from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
For international adoptions, adoptive parents must usually be married and at least twenty-five years of age. Many foreign countries require that adoptive parents be heterosexual; China even requires that the adoptive parents sign an affidavit stating that they are not homosexual. Despite these laws, some countries do allow adoptions for gay and lesbian couples, and this problem should not stop any couple from trying to adopt.
5. Stepfamily Adoption
When one partner in a marriage already has a child, the other partner may want to adopt the child as their own. This usually can be done by an attorney, and requires more paperwork than anything else. The only problem occurs when the other parent of the child refuses to consent to the adoption, or cannot be found to give consent. This requires more work by your attorney, but it does not mean that the child cannot be adopted.
6. Kinship Adoptions
If the parents of a child pass away, or are no longer able to care for their children, a relative can file for adoption of the children. In most cases, this is easier than a non-relative adoption, and progresses much more smoothly if all siblings are adopted by the same people.
Consent
In most cases, both birth parents must consent to the adoption, unless one or both have been deemed unfit to make such a decision. In many states, birth parents aren’t allowed to sign adoption parents until after the child is born, or even after the child has been in the world for three to four days. This narrows the possibility of a change of mind by the birth parents.
In some states, the law gives the birth parents time to revoke the consent even after the papers are signed. This is extremely hard on the adoptive parents, who might have to wait three or four months before the adoption is fully legal. Unfortunately, birth parents do change their minds, which can wreak havoc on adoptive parents who have already made room in their lives for the child.
Investigation
Adoptive parents must undergo a rigorous investigation before they are allowed to adopt. In most cases, a social worker will visit the home of the parents to observe their living habits and to ask questions. The adoptive parents will also be required to go through a short period of counseling to make sure they understand the extent of adoption.
The home study that the social worker completes will evaluate the following:
– Finances
– Other Children
– Career Obligations
– Living Conditions
– Marriage Stability
– Physical, Mental & Emotional Health
– Criminal History
– Credit History
If a family receives a negative report from the social worker, that family has the right to contest it in court.
