Principles Of The Adoption Law In The U.S.A

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  1. The Birth Parents do not hold Parental Rights –

The decision of adoption means severing legal ties of adopted children with their biological parents. The children then become that of the adoptive parents for all legal purposes.

 

  1. The need for Consent –

In most cases, the biological parents of the children need to allow the proceedings to move forward either voluntarily or knowingly.   Keep in mind that the court will not create any legal relationship between the children and the adoptive parents unless and until consent is proved with the required documents. The court requires the permission of both the biological mother and the father. If in case of unmarried fathers, the supreme court has now recognized their rights by establishing putative father registries that allow unwed fathers to register their contact information to obtain notice of adoption proceedings.

 

  1. Keep in mind your child’s best interest –

The adoption law needs the focus to be solely on the interests of the child and not that of the adoptive parents or birth parents. Every adoption requires there to be a probationary period to assess the fit of the child with the adoptive parents. For this, the court will base its judgment on investigations that are carried out by various child welfare professionals   A court will generally rely on investigations conducted by child welfare professionals and their assessment of the child’s well being and interests in the adoptive house.

 

  1. Adoption proceeding need to be confidential –

Adoption proceedings are not public in nature and therefore need to be carried out in private. Unless and until there is a valid reason for scrutiny, adoption records are sealed and not opened without the mutual consent of parties involved. Earlier, the law stated that the biological parents are unaware of the adoptive parents and vice versa, but today, the process of opening sealed records has become more accessible and more accommodating.

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  1. Adoption is permanent –

Once finalized, there is no backing out of adoption so ensure you are well aware of the consequences and responsibilities that come along both during and post-adoption. It is only post-finalization of the whole process that the adoptive parents take over the complete rights and duties from the biological parents. And once these responsibilities are taken over, one cannot go back on it and therefore become a permanent parent. There is a certain period allotted post-adoption to settle in, post which, the adoption files are shut forever unless and until there is an emergency to do so. Some cases in which the records are reopened are fraud, violence, abuse of rights, etc on the part of the adoptive parents.

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