Adoption now is a carefully regulated and monitored legal process which considers the best interests of the child foremost and the rights of all parties. Arkansas adoption law makes a point of empowering and protecting birth mothers and expectant moms considering adoption. Laws regarding consent to adoption are strong and specific. But it wasn’t always like that. Among the terrible things in the history of adoption we find the use of forced adoptions — cases in which babies were forcefully removed from their mothers and placed into adoptive homes without the parents’ consent.
We’ve talked before about criminals who have stolen babies and emergency situations in which families were separated, but the term “forced adoptions” refers to a bigger issue.
Forced adoptions
Australia’s senate held an investigation in 2012 into practices during the mid-2oth century that they identified as coercive. Organizations designed to help unwed mothers (as they were called in those days), hospitals, and even religious organizations removed babies from unmarried mothers without discussion. Paperwork might be marked “BFA” — “baby for adoption” — automatically if a single woman had a baby. Birth moms might be told that their babies had died. Sometimes mothers were given large amounts of drugs to simplify the process. The nation made a formal apology for the practice in 2013.
Korea recently apologized for its own practice of forced adoptions following an investigation. In Korea during the same time period, the government developed a policy of sending as many children as possible overseas for adoption. Children were kidnapped, parents were told that their children had dies, and the focus was often on mixed-race children, who were considered less valuable by the government. Babies’ identity documents were often forged or falsified, and in some cases it was clear that government-funded care centers were involved in for-profit baby-selling schemes.
Under the fascist dictator Franco in Spain, babies were removed from parents who were political dissidents and placed in families that supported Franco and fascism. The political decisions of the government developed into a money-making black market operation. In 2010, an investigation identified individuals involved in the stealing of babies and destruction of their records, but the statute of limitations made it impossible to prosecute them.
In all these cases, and others, the removal of babies from their birth mothers without consent was only part of the story. These women and children were often mistreated and even physically and emotionally abused. Fathers were removed from the equation, often not allowed to see the mothers or their babies and never given the opportunity to give or withhold consent.
Current Arkansas adoption laws
In Arkansas, the laws about consent to adoption are very clear. It is possible for people to lose their parental rights by abandoning a child or if for other reasons they are not able to care for their biological child. This is a legal process. Once parental rights have been terminated, there is no longer a legal relationship between the parent and the child. Apart from cases like these, adoption requires voluntary consent without pressure from anyone.
The following people must give written consent to an adoption:
- the birth mother
- the birth father, or the mother’s husband if she was married to someone who is not the biological father
- the child, if he or she is 12 or over
- anyone with custody of the child
- the spouse, if any, of the person to be adopted
In all cases, consent must be voluntary, and the statements to be signed must be read by the person signing or be read to them if they cannot read. They must work with translators if English is not their first language. If the birth parents are minors, they must have a court-appointed guardian to help them.
Some of the events in the history of adoption are shocking, but all of these events have led to the strong, clear laws we currently have to protect everyone involved in an adoption. Heimer Law specializes in adoption. If you ha e questions, we’re happy to help.
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