It certainly doesn’t happen every day, but there are situations in which would-be adoptive parents might want to adopt a child who has already been adopted once. An adoption can be dissolved, perhaps because the first set of adoptive parents discovered that they were not prepared for a child’s special needs, and the child becomes available for adoption again. Or a grandparent adopts a child, and later the birth mom changes her life and wants to regain her parental rights. A tragic possibility is that a single person adopts a child and dies while that child is still a minor. Whatever the circumstances, the legal question remains: can someone be adopted twice?
Getting clear: what’s an adoption?
Adoption creates a legal relationship. The adoptive parents become the legal parents of the child. The child is legally the son or daughter of the adoptive parents, with a legal relationship which is the same as the one between a biological child and his or her parents.
A child can’t have multiple sets of parents at the same time, so it is not possible to adopt a child who already has parents. Before a new adoption can take place, the first adoption must end. This could be a legal dissolution of an adoption, as when a grandparent makes way for his child to adopt her biological daughter. It certainly could be the result of the death of a single adoptive parent.
Regardless of the circumstances, the relationship between the original adoptive parents and the child must be ended before a second adoption can take place. A child cannot be adopted twice — at the same time.
Is a second adoption different?
Every adoption must be in the best interests of the child. A child’s second adoption might involve additional questions from the court to make sure to understand the circumstances that led to this change. Otherwise, the adoption of someone who has already been adopted once involves the same procedures as other adoptions.
Make it legal
In Arkansas, the “rehoming” of children is a felony, punishable with a $5,000 fine. This could include our example of a grandfather who has adopted his grandchild and, years later when her life has turned around, wants to support his daughter in regaining parental rights with her biological child. The grandfather can’t just send the child to live with the birth mom and consider everything settled.
The first adoption must be legally dissolved and the second adoption must be legally concluded. Be sure to see an experienced adoption lawyer if you need services of this kind. Heimer Law specializes in adoption and can help with your adoption journey, whatever the ins and outs.
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