Family Law D. Bruce Orwin Consumer Information Kentucky

Somerset, Kentucky Adoption Lawyer

If you are considering adoption, an experienced lawyer can offer the necessary guidance. I am D. Bruce Orwin, an experienced Somerset adoption attorney. I work with several adoption agencies in Kentucky and handle state adoptions, foreign adoptions, and independent or private adoptions. I ensure that all parties involved in the adoption process understand their rights and responsibilities. I ensure there is a full, complete, and final termination of parental rights by the court so that there is no chance for a future claim to a child. I also make sure the appropriate state approvals are obtained.

Adoption - An Overview

Adoption is the process of substituting one set of parents for another. After the adoption is complete, the new parents are the only parents recognized by the law and have the same rights and responsibilities as any other parents. If you are interested in building your family through adoption, contacting an adoption attorney who can help you to understand what options are available to you is a good place to start.

International adoptions are on the increase. Between 1989 and 2002, U.S. citizens adopted 167,420 children from other countries. Parents often choose to adopt internationally because the wait can be shorter, the fees can be lower, and the outcome, because international adoptions are generally closed, can be more predictable. Adoptions of U.S.-born children increasingly are "open" adoptions, where the birth parents and the adoptive parents stay in some degree of contact. Very commonly, this contact is in the form of pictures of the adopted child and letters describing the child's experiences since the last update.

The paperwork required for an international adoption is even more complicated and extensive than that required for a domestic adoption. In addition to complying with state law, international adoptions necessitate that the adoptive parents meet federal requirements and comply with the adoption laws of the country from which they are adopting. Under some special circumstances the cost of an adoption can be minimal, but most adoptions end up costing many thousands of dollars.

Over half of the children adopted domestically in the U.S. are older children or children with "special needs." Special needs means that the child has a physical, mental or behavioral disability, is older, or has siblings who are also available for adoption. Estimates put the number of children in foster care who are waiting to be adopted at over 130,000. The state cares for these "waiting children" until a family comes forward to adopt.

The Adoption and Safe Families Act, passed by Congress in 1997, sought to remedy the disparity between the number of children in foster care needing homes and the number adopted. The legislation sought to double the number of public adoptions by 2002 and give foster children the opportunity for safe, loving and permanent homes. Most states report dramatic increases in the number of adoptions of children in foster care since the Act was passed.

International Adoptions

The entry by the United States into the Hague Convention has significantly reduced the number of children being placed into the United States for adoption. At the present time, it does not appear that international adoptions will be increasing. In almost all cases, it is necessary to work with an agency specifically licensed by the Department of State in order to receive a child from a foreign country. If you are interested in adopting a child from a foreign county, contact an experienced adoption attorney in your area. A lawyer can help you fulfill all of the domestic and foreign requirements for adopting your child.

Open vs. Closed Adoption

In a closed adoption, the adoptive parents and birth parents have no contact before or after the child was adopted. The term "open adoption" is poorly defined, but it generally means that there is some level of contact between birth parents and adoptive parents, after an adoption is completed. Post adoption contact and communication agreements may be included in the Final Order of Adoption. It is important to work with an adoption attorney who understands how such an agreement may be negotiated, drafted and enforced.

Termination of Parental Rights

Before a child can be adopted, the child’s legal ties to their birth parents must be severed. This process can be stressful for adoptive parents, who may worry that complications will increase the length of the process or prevent a successful adoption altogether.

How to Finance an Adoption

The expenses associated with adopting vary according to the type of adoption you pursue and where your child is from. Such expenses can include application fees, the cost of the social worker's home study, court costs, adoptive parent training, prenatal and delivery medical expenses, foster care fees, orphanage donations, foreign fees and travel costs. These costs can quickly mount, leaving you discouraged about your ability to afford an adoption. But there are resources available to help you defray the costs of adoption, including loans, grants, employer benefits, tax credits and others.

Adoption Resource Links

American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law
The American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law works to improve children's lives by advances in law, knowledge, justice, practice and public policy. Its website provides articles and other resources for the legal community interested in children's issues.

Child Welfare Information Gateway
The Child Welfare Information Gateway (formerly known as the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse) provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families.

Adoption Tax Credit
Information provided by the Internal Revenue Service on the federal adoption tax credit.

Intercountry Adoption News
Current information provided by the US State Department on issues in intercountry adoption, including countries that have suspended international adoptions, status of certain country's adoption agencies, warnings to US citizens seeking to adopt in certain countries, and other important news.

Medline Plus: Adoption
Gateway resource providing information on various adoption questions, including how to select an adoption agency, adopting children with mental or physical disabilities, costs of adoption and resources for financial assistance, adoption statistics, foster care and more.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Adoption

Q: Is adoption expensive?

A: An adoption can be expensive, costing anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. The cost of the adoption depends on several factors, such as whether you are using an agency or adopting directly from the birth parents, adopting an infant or an older child, or adopting domestically or internationally, among other factors. There are ways to decrease the costs of adoption that may be available to you, including employer benefits, tax credits and state and federal subsidies.

Q: Can I adopt if I'm not married?

A: Yes. Single people have the same eligibility to adopt as married people. But just like married people, the court can deny an adoption if it finds the adoption isn't in the child's best interests. Also, some adoption agencies may choose not to place a child in a single parent home, so if you are considering an agency, you will want to check if it has this restriction. Even with these limits, single parent adoptions are increasing in number as courts discover single parents can provide just as loving and stable homes as married parents.

Adoption Information Center