Adoption Legal Services
We represent clients in a variety of adoptions:
- PRIVATE PLACEMENT by a biological parent with an adoptive family
- AGENCY PLACEMENT with an adoptive family
- INTERNATIONAL adoptions
- STEPPARENT adoptions
For any child to be adopted there must first be a severance of the legal parental rights of the biological parents to that child. This can occur in one of three ways:
- Through the deaths of the biological parents
- Through court action to terminate the parental rights of the biological parents
- Through legal surrenders in court of the biological parents' parental rights
One or more of these MUST occur before a child is truly ready for adoption. If a child is adopted without BOTH biological parents' legal rights having been severed, the adoption can be vulnerable to legal challenge.
For that reason it is VERY IMPORTANT that not only the adoption proceeding but also the legal steps beforehand to severe the biological parents' legal rights be done very carefully and in strict compliance with the law.
There have been many cases in the media over the last decade or so of adoptions which were overturned by the courts and children returned to their biological parents. These were heartrendingly tragic for the children and their adoptive parents.
These tragedies occurred largely because of failures to make certain that the biological parent's parental rights were properly ended. We strive to make certain that never happens with any case we handle.
We provide these adoption services:
1) arranging legal surrenders of parental rights,
2) termination of parental rights,
3) interstate placements of children for adoption; and
4) adoptions themselves.
STEPPARENT ADOPTIONS. When a natural parent shows little or no interest in a child, a stepparent may be able to adopt a child and by so doing show the child that he is loved and wanted. We can explain how this is done.
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT OUR ADOPTION SERVICES OR TO ARRANGE A CONSULTATION CALL 1-844-IVYSLAW (toll-free) OR E-MAIL US AT IVY@IVYSCARBOROUGH.COM.
For our private placement adoption clients-
Our Policies and Procedures
We have handled well over 200 terminations of parental rights, surrenders and adoptions in the 30 years of my practice. Though we often work with adoption agencies, not uncommonly we are approached by mothers who wish to surrender their child for adoption privately and not go through an agency. Similarly, we are often asked by prospective adoptive parents – many already approved by an agency – if we will let them know should we learn of someone wishing to place a child privately. We bring prospective adoptive parents and natural mothers together. There cannot be and is no financial charge for this.
Private placements have significant benefits:
1) Typically, the child does not go into a foster home and usually goes right from the hospital to the adoptive parents or from the natural mother to the adoptive parents;
2) There is no long wait either for a placement agency to find a child or to complete the adoption – we emphasize speed of service; and
3) Costs are typically much lower than the high fees associated with a placement agency.
However, we are meticulously careful to follow practices and procedures that are similar in many respects to an agency:
1) We carefully inquire about any adoptive couple before we arrange for them to meet a natural mother wishing to place her child privately (most of these homes have already been vetted by a private agency);
2) We focus on Christian homes of demonstrated stability (they will of course nonetheless have to submit to an intensive home study);
3) We make sure the natural mother is not forgotten in the process. We, therefore, make certain that the natural mother has sound, competent counseling from a trained professional available to her (often we arrange this service through a placement agency);
4) We make independent legal counseling available to the natural mother regarding her rights.
5) We make certain there is no hint of any illegal or unethical financial arrangements between the natural mother and the prospective adoptive parents.
Once the natural mother says she wants to place her child with the prospective adoptive parents and the prospective adoptive parents agree, we move rapidly to arrange a proper change of custody and to file the legal proceedings for the following:
1) For the mother’s surrender before a court,
2) The natural father’s termination of parental rights (if this is necessary) and
3) The adoption itself.
A primary objective of everything we do is to minimize the time that the natural parent/s and the prospective adoptive parents have to wait for all of these legal proceedings and the adoption to be completed.