HELPING ADOPTIVE PARENTS

I would be happy to serve you and guide you through the adoption process. I am most attentive to detail and thoroughness and will endeavor to secure a final order on your behalf as expeditiously as possible - - without ignoring any of the steps that must be taken to honor and protect the rights and interests of all parties concerned.

A husband, for example, wants to adopt his wife's child, or an adoptive couple, or parent, has identified a child, not yet born, that is to be adopted with the birthmother's consent. What next? How do these persons proceed? There are numerous statutes that govern the adoption process. Statutory provisions relate, for example, to protecting birth parents' rights, securing consents and furnishing appropriate notice, the placement process and the preparation and filing of appropriate pleadings with the court. The assistance of an experienced adoption attorney, like myself, is invaluable when the interests of so many individuals are affected. All persons with whom I have personal contact during the adoption process, particularly birthmothers, are treated cordially and compassionately. Adoptive parents want to be confident that all steps have been taken to assure compliance with the governing law - - that no shortcuts have been pursued or unnecessary risks assumed.

A brief overview of a case in which I was involved should assist you in understanding my role. A husband and wife (central Indiana residents in this case) contacted me in late 2001 to represent them. Through friends who live elsewhere in Indiana and who also were acquaintances of the birthmother's family, my clients had learned of a child to be born in the Spring, 2002. The birthmother had indicated her desire to consent to an adoption of the child, and my clients had obtained a home study from a licensed agency, approving them for an adoptive placement. My services on behalf of my clients included, but were not limited to, the following:

· Preparing, and assuring that the birthfather was served with, a pre-birth notice describing the expectant mother's intention to consent to an adoption (to which, in this case, the birthfather failed to respond in a timely fashion, thus foreclosing his rights);

· Preparing and filing the petition for adoption;

· Preparing and filing a petition requesting a court order authorizing the hospital to release the child to my clients' care and custody pending the adoption;

· Preparing and securing the birthmother's consent to my clients' adoption of the child;

· Coordinating with the hospital the release of the child to my clients; and

· Representing my clients at the final hearing (Summer, 2002) at which time a final decree of adoption was entered by the court.

The typical case I handle for adoptive parents is "uncontested". That is, in the case of a private adoption, either both birthparents consent to the adoption or the birthmother consents and the birthfather, when his identity and whereabouts are known, impliedly consents to the adoption after being duly notified and failing to respond in a timely manner. In many cases in which the birthfather's name and whereabouts remain unknown, and, assuming he has failed to properly register with the State of Indiana, no notice to him is required and his consent to the adoption is implied. In the case of a stepparent adoption, the non-custodial biological parent often either consents or, having been furnished with notice, is defaulted after failing to respond in a timely fashion. I may engage the services of an experienced, litigation attorney, with the consent and authorization of my clients, if and when an adoption matter becomes contested.