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Saturday, July 4, 2009

Adoption - What is Adoption?

By Jean Rennick

Deciding to adopt a child is one of the most important decisions you will make. Not surprisingly, it can be a very difficult decision to make. In considering adoption, you need to address a number of physical, emotional and legal issues.

The adoption process can be so complex, that some people are turned off the idea. But, with the right information, the adoption process doesn't have to seem insurmountable. One part of the right information, is understanding adoption, and the adoption process.

A simple adoption definition is, adoption is the process of creating a permanent legal relationship between a child and a couple, or single adult. In many adoptions, a childless couple has been matched with an orphan, but there are many unique adoption scenarios. Either way, adoption is the process of matching a child with their adoptive parent(s).

Because adoption is a legal matter, it does go further than simply creating acceptable family matches. Parental responsibilities and rights are given to the adoptive parents. The adoptive child is granted the status of a natural family member, and the legal, social and emotional rights associated with that.

Upon completion of the adoption process, the child becomes legal offspring of the adopting parent(s), and has the same rights of any biological child, including inheritance rights.

To finalize an adoption, court proceedings are required. As part of these court hearings, the court must identify the biological parents of the potential adoptee. This is done, in part, to assure that the adoption is fair and lawful, and capable of withstanding any external conflicts.

The difficulty of determining biological parentage varies, depending on state law, and the circumstances of the adoption. One frequent scenario consists of a child who is a ward of the court--they are orphans, or the rights of their biological parents have been terminated by the courts.

In the scenario of a teenage girl being the adoptive child's mother, sometimes the court will both terminate her parental rights, and finalize the adoption within the same court proceeding.

In the process of adoption finalization, the family court judge reviews all the gathered information about the child, their biological parents, and the adoptive parents. This information can include:

* results of the home study

* an evaluation of the adopting parents and an assessment of their ability to take custody of the child

* if available, reports from pre-adoption counseling

* notes and recommendations compiled by the caseworker

as well as other information requested by the judge.

The adoption proceedings are usually attended by the following people:

* the adoptive parents with their adoption attorney

* the biological parents and their attorney

* the adoptive child or children

* the adoptive child's legal advocate

* the adoption caseworker

* the caseworker(s) for the adoptive and biological parents.

In the presence of the people listed above, the family court judge renders his decision -- either approval or disapproval of the petition for adoption. If the adoption petition is approved, the adoption is final, and an Adoption Decree is issued.

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