The short answer is yes, it is always best to have an adoption attorney if you plan to adopt a child. There are differences, though, between adopting a child from foster care — sometimes called a public adoption — and a private adoption.
The goal is different
The adoptive parents’ goal may always be to grow their family through adoption, but the goal of the adoption professionals involved can be different. In a private adoption, you will usually work with an adoption lawyer or agency whose goal it is to help you adopt a child. It may be a child you know, a relative, your spouse’s child, or a child whose birth parent cannot care for them, but the desired outcome is an adoption.
In foster care, the main goal is reunification with the child’s birth family. If that is impossible, then an adoption can take place, but the Department of Human Services hopes to bring the family back together. Some foster parents hope and expect to adopt a child who has been with them for months or even years, only to learn on short notice that a family member has entered the picture and will be chosen instead.
The process is different
People seeking to adopt from foster care go through a different process of preparation from that required for a private adoption. Either way, a home study is required. A final court ruling is also required. Both of these processes can be easier with an adoption lawyer. Your adoption attorney makes certain that everything is done correctly from legal point of view so that there will never be any question about the legitimacy of the adoption.
In a private adoption, the birth parent(s) give voluntary agreement to terminate their parental rights. There is no custody fight involved and the adoptive parents do not normally need to prove that the birth parent is an unfit parent. (The exception may be a contested stepparent adoption.) To adopt from foster care, the adoptive parents must wait until the birth parents’ rights are terminated, and this is often an involuntary termination.
In a case of involuntary termination of parental rights, the birth parents cannot change their minds. They are no longer the legal parents of the child. A birth mom who has agreed to play her child in a stable, loving adoptive home can still change her mind before the adoption is final.
Once the adoption is final, the birth parents cannot change their minds. Final means final.
The cost and time frame may be different
The cost to adopt from foster care can be much lower than the cost of a private adoption, which may involve financial support for the expectant mom and other costs. Adoption from foster care may come with subsidies which can cover the cost of an adoption attorney.
The length of time involved can be much longer for a public adoption. It can take years for the foster care system to work toward reunification of the bio family, give up, and achieve termination of the birth parents’ parental rights. While foster care systems may have children in care who are already legally available for adoption, the process can still be lengthy. In a private adoption, there may be a wait for the child to be born or there may not, but the process is usually faster. On the other hand, there are usually many children in foster care, and there may not be as many children needing a private adoption.
If you have questions about adoption, Heimer Law will be happy to talk with you. We offer a free consultation for people considering adoption, both expectant moms and would-be adoptive parents. Contact us to begin the conversation.