Adoption Legal Issues
Adoption Legal Issues
Once an adoption has been arranged, the court verifies that the rights of the biological parents were not violated and that their decision to offer the child up for adoption was voluntary. The court can invalidate an adoption if fraud, duress, or undue influence was exerted on the birth parents. In states that mandate counseling for parents who wish to offer their child up for adoption, the courts make sure that adequate counseling is provided. Some states require biological parents to retain an attorney to represent their interests. The courts also verify compliance with laws limiting financial assistance to biological parents. These laws attempt to keep biological parents from being influenced by financial incentives and to minimize the costs associated with adoption. Generally, the court will appoint an adoption agency or the state’s child-protective services agency to assess the child’s adjustment in the adoptive home.
In the United States, custody laws tend to favor biological parents until the adoption process is completed. Each state has different laws concerning when the parental rights of birth parents are terminated. After this point, the biological parents can no longer change their mind and attempt to reclaim custody of the child, unless fraud, duress, or undue influence can be proven. Problems sometimes arise if the birth mother does not know who fathered the child or identifies the wrong person as the biological father. Many states have laws that terminate an unidentified biological father’s parental rights to reclaim custody of an adopted child. However, some state laws preserve these rights for an unspecified period of time. The trend appears to be to limit the time-period in which the unidentified biological father may assert his parental rights. (1)
In this Section: Adoption, Adoption and Foster Care, Adoption Contents (including Adoptions by Relatives or Stepparents, Agency and Private-Placement Adoptions, Adoptions: Intermediaries and Materially Assisting Persons and Open and Closed Adoptions), Adoption Legal Issues, International Adoption, Psychological Stress and Adoption Support Groups, Telling Adopted Children About Their Adoption, Searching for Biological Parents and Transracial Adoptions.
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