When it comes to domestic adoption, people have a lot of questions about it. Who can adopt, how does residency in a certain state affect the adoption, who can be adopted, who can place a child up for adoption, how can people adopt domestically, and many more. Adoption is a sensitive topic and there are a few misconceptions about what goes on in a domestic adoption.
1. Who can legally adopt a child, and how does residency affect adoption? Each state has its own adoption laws. In California, for example, anyone regardless of marital status, gender, race, religion, beliefs, political affiliation sexual or orientation that meet the adoptive parent requirements can adopt a child. Due to state law, even if the adoptive parent(s) live in another state, if the birth mother resides in California, the adoption can be completed under California law. If both the birth mother and the adoptive parents reside in different states, depending on the states involved will determine which State’s laws apply.
2. Who can be adopted? In all 50 states, domestic adoption of a child is permitted.
3. Who can place a child for adoption? Anyone who has legal authority over the child may place him or her up for domestic adoption. This can include the birth parents, guardians, child placement agencies, or in certain circumstances, state social services agencies.
4. How can people adopt domestically? In the United States, the two most common types of domestic adoption are an identified agency placement and an independent/direct placement adoption. In an identified agency placement adoption, the birth mother surrenders her parental rights to a licensed adoption agency, who then proceed to place the child with his or her new family. The birth mother generally chooses the adoptive parents, and all rights are passed to them. While in open adoptions the birth mother may have contact with her child, she cannot legally take her child back if she changes her mind. The second form of adoption is direct placement. This happens when the mother directly places her child in the care of another, with the help of an adoption attorney and independent adoption caseworker. In either method adoptive parents are required to complete home study coursework, and birth parent rights are terminated.
5. There are many misconceptions regarding domestic adoptions. Myths like five year waiting periods, that it is expensive and that there are rarely any infants available to be adopted. Like birth parent rights, much of this is out of date and incorrect. In fact, in the U.S. there are over 400 thousand children in the foster care system, of these over 100 thousand are available for adoption, and most wait over three years to be placed in a good home.
While they may not grab the attention of the media like international adoptions, domestic adoptions are a wonderful way to welcome in a new member of the family. In this country there are many children who are in need of a good home. Whether they are newborn or nine years old, every child deserves to have a good home to call their own.
AdoptHelp.com ensures you follow all the legal laws while opting for domestic adoption ( http://www.adopthelp.com/domestic-infant-adoption ). To know how you can select domestic adoption agencies, you may also visit eHow.
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