Your adoptive parents will pay for an attorney. This is part of their overall adoption budget.
Author: kelly
Can I change my mind about the adoption after I sign papers?
You may change your mind at any time prior to signing consent papers. See Consent to Adoption
After papers are signed, in private adoptions, you have 30 calendar days after signing the consent to change your mind.
However, if you signed a Waiver of the Right to Revoke Consent in front of a judge, your consent is immediately irrevocable, and you cannot change your mind.
If you signed a Waiver of the Right to Revoke Consent in front of an Adoption Service Provider , you can change your mind until the Waiver becomes final at the close of the next business day after signing.
Can I still choose adoption after my baby is born?
Even if your baby has already been born, it is not too late to choose adoption. You can still make an adoption plan. Your baby will not go to foster care, as long as you have an adoption plan in place. With an adoption plan, you can choose to place your baby in the home of adoptive parents.
Will I get to know the adoptive parents before adoption?
Absolutely. You and you alone get to decide which adoptive parents will be best for your baby. To do this, you would get to know them. You can ask them questions about their background, their faith, their family rituals. You can tell them about the way you were raised. These are all addressed in the adoption plan we will help you with.
Can I afford an adoption? What will the adoptive parents pay for?
Will my baby go to foster care?
No. Your baby will go home with the adoptive parents you choose.
How will an attorney help a birth mother?
Being pregnant and considering adoption is scary and overwhelming. Birth mothers have rights and options. Your lawyer will explain your rights and options to you.
Agency or independent?
For example, you can choose an agency adoption, or an independent (private) adoption. In a private adoption, you will get to select adoptive parents.
Open, Closed, Semi-Open?
An open adoption is where you select the adoptive family for your baby. There will be no secrecy, and as your baby grows, he/she will learn about their biological history.
Before you choose your adoptive parents, you will learn about their values, their faith, and the type of home your baby will grow up in. You can decide what type of contact you will have – you can have texts, pictures, letters or visits. Or you can choose to have minimal contact. We can help you draft a written agreement for any future contact, if any, you will have with the adoptive parents.
A majority of private adoptions are now open.
In a semi-open adoption, the birth mother and adoptive parents have contact during her pregnancy, and may even meet in person. However, after the adoption, they may share information through an intermediary (agency or attorney). Photographs and letters are often exchanged, but little to no identifying information is disclosed. In an semi-open adoption, privacy may be protected.
In a closed adoption, no contact informtaion is shared between the birth mother and adoptive parents. A closed adoption is the most protective of birth mother’s privacy.
You will decide which type of adoption you want.
Post-Adoption
The adoption journey does not end after placement. You have just done what seemed like the impossible. The healing may be instant; or it may take time. There are resources, we will help you.
Brave Love Post-Adoptive Resources
How Will an Attorney help birth mom?
Does the father of my baby have rights?
The rights of the baby’s father is dependent on several factors.
If You Are Married
In general, in California, if you are married to the father within 300 days of baby’s birth, and he objects, the only way the adoption can take place is if his parental rights are terminated. This is accomplished by filing a Petition to Terminate Parental Rights.
If You are NOT Married
If you are NOT married, you are still required to provide notice to them. However, the father will only be able to stop the adoption in one of these situations:
- The father has received the child into their home and have publicly acknowledged the child as their own.
- You and the birth father have both signed a Voluntary Declaration of Paternity to have them listed as the father on the baby’s birth certificate. (Hospital staff may present this form for you to sign at time of baby’s birth, but you are not required to do so, and should not sign if you are planning to place the baby for adoption.)
Unless they can meet at least one of the three requirements listed above, a biological father’s consent for adoption in California is not required.
If You Do Not Know Who the Father Is
If you do not know who the father is, or where he is – Don’t worry, this situation is common. Make sure you tell your attorney everything you know about who the possible father is so problems don’t arise in the future.