Adoption - The Ultimate In Red Tape
An associate of mine finds it very interesting that any couple
in this world, no matter how rich or poor, no matter what they
do for a living, no matter if they have a criminal record or
not, no matter what kind of persons they are, can have as many
kids as they like and nobody can say one word about it.
But when a middle class, hard working, law abiding couple wants
to adopt a child they have to jump through more hoops than a
clown at a three ring circus. He wonders why.
In this article we'll try to explain some of the problems and
red tape associated with a couple trying to adopt a child.
For starters, adoption law varies from state to state. Yes,
there are laws, and depending on where you live those laws can
be quite different but there are some laws that are pretty
common across the board. There is the Consent to Adoption. This
consent refers to the agreement by a parent, or a person or
agency acting in place of a parent, to relinquish the child for
adoption and to release all rights and duties with respect to
that child. In other words before you can adopt the child the
birth parent or agency in charge, if the birth parents are dead,
has to give consent for the adoption to take place.
Then there is the parties to adoption. In order for an adoption
to take place, a person available to be adopted must be placed
in the home of a person or persons eligible to adopt. All
States, the District of Columbia, and the US territories Guam,
Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and
the Virgin Islands have laws that specify which persons are
eligible as adopting parents, and which persons can be adopted.
In other words they decide whether or not they think the
adoptive parents are fit and this varies from state to state.
So who CAN adopt? Generally speaking anyone over the age of 18
but in some states 21 and still in others the minimum age is 25.
Again, this is all state regulated. There are some states that
allow minors to adopt under certain circumstances but this is
very rare. In some states the adopting parents must be at least
10 years older than the child. So if you want to adopt a 15 year
old boy you have to be at least 25 years of age. Then there is
the residency question. Most states require that you be living
at your current residence for at least 60 days.
So who can BE adopted? Generally, anyone under the age of 18. Of
course depending on the state there are some additional
requirements. For example, in some states the child has to be
living in that state at the time of the adoption. So if you
wanted to adopt someone from overseas you wouldn't be able to.
In some states this extends further to the child having to be a
resident for a certain length of time. Some states do allow the
adoption of a person regardless of age but this is very rare.
Then there is the question of WHO can place a child for
adoption. This is usually the birth parent or parents unless
both are dead and then it is the agency to which custody of the
child was appointed.
But this gets even more complicated. What if the birth mother
and father are not married and the mother wants to put the child
up for adoption but the father does not? This becomes an
extremely messy situation. First there is the court battle
between the mother and father to determine who gets the say in
the matter. In most cases unless the mother is proven unfit the
right to place the child up for adoption is granted. If not,
however, then a determination has to be made as to whether or
not the father is given custody of the child. We are assuming at
this point that since he was against the adoption that he will
want to keep the child, but he is in no way legally obligated to
do this and can put the child up for adoption at a later date.
Then there are the adoption fees. In most states the adoptive
parents have to pay these fees and they can be enormous, going
into the tens of thousands of dollars. My associate thinks this
is absurd. The parents don't want the child but it's the
adoptive parents who have to pay to get the child even though
the child isn't wanted. Some would say that is hard logic to
argue with. As you can see, adoption is not simple. Add to all
the above that the adoption process can be a very lengthy one,
sometimes taking years, it makes you wonder why anyone would go
through the trouble. For that matter why would someone have to
when there are so many unwanted children in the world?
It gives you something to think about.