Would-be adoptive parents often have questions about age, and the answers vary from one state to another. In Arkansas, adoptions from foster care have a special age requirement: the adoptive parents cannot be more than 45 years older than the child to be adopted.
We might see this as a natural sort of rule. Men become biological parents, on average, around age 30, while women become biological parents around age 23. 45 or younger might seem like a typical age for a parent.
Yet a person in their 50s can certainly care for and love a newborn. Loving grandparents in their 60s or 70s don’t seem too old to care for a child or a teen. Where do we get the idea that 45 is the maximum gap in age that should exist between a parent and a child?
Other states
16 states currently have age requirements for adoption. In most cases, these are minimum ages. An adoptive parent must be at least 18 or 21 in most of these states, though two states require adoptive parents to be 25 years old.
Several states require adoptive parents to be at least 10 or 15 years older than the child they plan to adopt.
All of these requirements are about the maturity and stability of the parents. The object is to ensure that the child will have parents who are ready to serve as parents and to care for the child as parents should.
No states have maximum age limits. Home studies include checks on physical health to make sure that the adoptive parents have the strength and physical wellness to bring up the child to be adopted, but there are no requirements in any state saying that adoptive parents can’t be older.
So where does the age gap come from?
You can find claims that the age gap is a rule of thumb — that is, a widely accepted idea that may not be based on much of anything besides a common agreement that it’s about right. Like most rules of thumb, this age gap is not actually a state law in Arkansas. It is a rule for foster care adoptions.
It is also a common guideline for adoption agencies. Some may go with the 45-year gap, others may choose a 40-year gap, and still others may set a maximum age limit across the board.
Does this affect private adoptions?
Not at all. The 45-year age gap limit is not a state law. It is not a legal requirement for adoptions. And it does not apply to private adoptions.
Private adoptions are legal agreements between an expectant or birth mom and an adoptive parent or parents. It is essential that the adoptive parent be able to provide a safe, stable, loving home for the child. That is really the only requirement.
It’s easy to get caught up in the details you might hear about as you go through your adoption journey, but a qualified adoption lawyer can help you sift the wheat from the chaff — and the legal requirements from the rules of thumb.
You might already know a child who needs a loving home or a mom who wants to find a loving home for her child. You might be open to finding a special child and age might not be an important criterion for you. Heimer Law can help you to find a child to adopt and to navigate the legal adoption process.
Contact us today for a free consultation. We will be happy to answer your questions.
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