Our Adoption Practice Group can assist clients in a number of domestic and international matters including:
Readoptions (Domesticating Foreign Decrees)
International Adoptions
Domestic Adoptions
Birth (Expectant) Parent Representation
Adoption Disruptions
Second Parent Adoptions/Stepparent Adoptions
Orphan Visa (R-3 and R-4) Appeals (I-600 Notice of Intent to Deny “NOIDS”)
International Family Law
International Divorce Issues
International Custody Issues
International Abductions (Abduction Prevention)
There are quite a few different ways to bring a child into your life, or confirm your legal relationship with one, through adoption. While certainly not comprehensive, the following information can help you understand more about the different ways adoption can work.
Agency Adoptions
Agency adoptions involve the domestic placement of a child with adoptive parents by a public agency, or by a private agency licensed or regulated by the state.
Public agencies generally place children who have become wards of the state for reasons such as orphanage, abandonment, or abuse. Private agencies are sometimes run by charities or social service organizations. Children placed through private agencies are usually brought to the agency by a parent or parents who have or are expecting a child they want to give up for adoption. Agencies help provide social resources to birth mothers and adoptive parents and facilitate the process.
Independent Adoptions
In a private, or independent, adoption, no agency is involved in the adoption. Some independent adoptions involve a direct arrangement between the birth parents and the adoptive parents, while others use an intermediary such as an attorney, doctor, or clergyperson. But for most independent adoptions, whether or not an intermediary is used, an attorney will be needed to take care of the court paperwork.
Most states allow independent adoptions, though many regulate them quite carefully. Independent adoptions are not allowed in Connecticut, Delaware, or Massachusetts. Our staff is familiar with interstate compacts and can assist you with adoptions involving different state jurisdictions.
An “open adoption” is an independent adoption in which the adoptive parents and birth parents have contact during the gestation period and the new parents agree to maintain some contact with the birth parents after the adoption, through letters, photos, or in-person visits.
International Adoptions
In an international adoption, the new parents adopt a child who is a citizen of a foreign country. In addition to satisfying the adoption requirements of both the foreign country and the parents’ home state in the U.S., the parents must obtain an immigrant visa for the child through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly called the INS). The child will be granted U.S. citizenship automatically upon entering the United States.
Many countries with children available for adoption will not permit adoption by openly gay or lesbian parents; some countries, like China, require the adopting parent to sign an affidavit that he or she is heterosexual. Despite this, many gay and lesbian adoptive parents have successfully completed international adoptions as single parents, with their partners later becoming legal parents through second parent or stepparent adoptions in the United States.
Prospective adoptive parents are encouraged to work with an agency, because direct adoption can be difficult due to language, customs and legal differences. Our attorneys and staff work with a qualified agency, and are very familiar with the often difficult and seemingly cumbersome procedures required for international adoptions. This process can be frustrating for adoptive parents. Having processed adoptions from many different nations such as Guatemala, China, Russia, Ukraine, Honduras and Vietnam,our staff’s expertise is reassuring for clients.
Stepparent Adoption
In a stepparent adoption, a parent’s new spouse adopts a child the parent had with a previous partner. Stepparent adoption procedures are less cumbersome than agency or independent adoption procedures. The process is simplified if the child’s other birth parent consents to the adoption. If the other birth parent cannot be found or if he or she refuses to consent to the adoption, there is more paperwork to do and and the process is more involved. A consultation with an attorney can discuss the process in more detail, especially if there are issues involving the identity or location of a birth parent.
Relative (Kinship) Adoptions
In a relative adoption, also called a kinship adoption, a member of the child’s family steps forward to adopt. Grandparents often adopt their grandchildren if the parents die while the children are minors, or if the parents are unable to take care of the children for other reasons (such as being in jail or on drugs). In most states, these adoptions are easier than non-relative adoptions. If the adopted child has siblings who are not adopted at the same time, kinship adoption procedures usually provide for contact between the siblings after the adoption.
Adoption Disruptions
There are circumstances when a child has been adopted and the adoption is not suitable for the parents and child. The parents may consider an adoption disruption. This is when an adoption is concluded by finding new adoptive parents who will process a second adoption. “Second Adoption” may be a more appropriate term because the first adoption was complete and the child is the legal child of the first set of adoptive parents. The prospective new parents are the second set of adoptive parents. If you are the first adoptive family and feel a disruption is required, we can help you find a suitable second adoptive family and assist you with the legal process. If you are a second adoptive family contemplating this type of adoption, we can complete your legal process and provide you with various adoption resources include counseling options, education and adoption grant/financial information. An adoption disruption can be a very difficult situation, but our team will do all we can to assist you with this transition. Our goal is to make the second adoption a successful placement for the child(ren) involved.
Orphan Visa Appeals
During an international adoption there is a risk that the I-600 Application for Orphan Visa may be denied or you may be given a Notice of Intent to Deny. The I-600 is the application that requests an Orphan Visa (R-3 or R-4). If you are given a Denial or Notice Of Intent to Deny (NOID), it can be a serious complication in your adoption process. The Orphan Visa enables a child adopted from a foreign country to enter the United States. Without the Orphan Visa it may be impossible for the child to legally enter the United States. Our team can assist you with your Rebuttal of a NOID or Appeal of Denial with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
