ADOPTION
An adoption is the court process whereby a person who is not
the biological parent is deemed to be the parent.
There are basically
two types of adoption: related and unrelated.
A related adoption
is where one of the adopting parents is the natural parent of the child, e.g. where a parent has remarried and the new spouse wants
to adopt the child. The related adoption process is very easy, with minimal oversight by the court, since the child’s interests
are presumably being protected by his natural parent.
An unrelated adoption
is where the adopting parents are not the natural parents of the child, e.g. adopting through an agency, from a private placement,
through DCFS or some other source. In that case, the natural parent of the child is not present to watch out for the child’s
best interest. Consequently, the court exercises more oversight and the process is that much more involved.
In either case, the adopting parents must be careful to comply with the requirements prescribed by the state statutes. The worst
thing that could happen is for the parents to have failed one of the requirements, only to have the child’s natural parent come back
into the picture with a claim that his rights were violated when the child was adopted by another.
Adoption is one of those areas of the law where you will be well served by consulting with an attorney from the very outset. Issues involving the adoption registry, putative father registry, surrender consents, and other matters need to be considered.
Adoptions are wonderful. I can help you with your adoption. Please call me 815-459-2253 or email me at scottnolan@attorneynolan.com. I would like to sit down with you and guide you through the process.
