Private Adoption in SC | FAQ - Adoptive Parent | FAQ - Birth Father | FAQ - Birth Mother | Other FAQ
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What is Adoption?
- What is a Private Adoption?
- Is Private Adoption Legal?
- What is an Adoption Agency
- Who Benefits from Adoption?
- What is an Open Adoption?
- What Expenses May the Adoptive Parents Pay?
- Is Counseling Available for the Birth Mother?
- Does the Birth Mother have a Right to See the Baby after it is
Born?
- When is the Birth
Mother's Consent to Adoption Signed?
- Is the Consent of the Birth Father Required?
- Can a Parent under Eighteen Consent to Adoption without His or Her
Parent's Consent?
- Are there any Court Appearance Involved?
- How Can the Birth Mother be Assured that Her Baby is Going to a
Good Home?
- Does the Baby Go to a Foster Home?
- Do Birth Mother's Place Children for Adoption Because They do not
Want the Child?
Adoption is a legal procedure by which all rights and responsibilities toward
a child are transferred from a birth parent to an adoptive parent. The child's
legal status becomes the same as if he had been born to the adoptive parents.
Private adoption simply means that an attorney, who represents the adoptive
parents, makes the legal arrangements for an adoption rather than an adoption
agency or welfare department.
Yes. Private adoption is legal, moral, and ethical. It is NOT at all related
to "baby selling."
An Adoption Agency is an entity authorized to take a relinquishment of a
child, and to place that child with adoptive parents. All South Carolina
adoption agencies are licensed and must meet high standards. It is illegal in
South Carolina to operate an adoption agency without a license.
Adoption can benefit all involved. To the birth parent, adoption can be the
answer to what to do about a child whom she is unable to raise. She can be
assured that the child will be brought up with love by the adoptive parents. To
the adoptive parents, adoption is a way to build the family for which they have
been waiting. To the child, adoption means having a good home and a loving
family.
There is a trend towards open adoption - adoption in which there is some form
of contact between birth parents and adoptive parents. It ranges from a
preplacement meeting, to letters or pictures after placement, or even personal
visitations after placement. Each person needs to assess what, if any, degree of
openness is acceptable or desirable for them.
The adoptive parents may pay the birth mother's medical expenses and the cost
of her attorney if she decides to retain one, although she is not required to do
so. Ethically, the attorney who represents the adoptive parents may not
represent both the adoptive parents and the birth mother. They may also
reimburse the birth mother for necessary and reasonable living expenses incurred
by her for a reasonable period of time.
Yes. Counseling is encouraged and facilitates the adoption process. The
adoptive parents may pay for her counseling on the same basis as they pay her
other medical expenses.
Yes. The extent of her involvement, if any, with the child while she is in
the hospital is entirely up to her. She may elect to see the baby, hold and feed
it, know its sex, or take photographs if she so desires, or, she may elect not
to see the baby. Additionally, upon her request, most doctors will allow the
birth mother to be moved off the maternity floor during her hospital stay.
A consent may only be signed after the birth of the child, usually within
twenty-four to forty-eight hours after delivery. A consent signed prior to birth
is not valid.
In South Carolina, the birth mother is not required to identify the birth
father. Issues relating to consent by the birth father and notice to him of the
adoption proceeding are quite complex and vary significantly depending on the
circumstances in any particular case. Also, South Carolina law specifies the
procedure in cases where the identity or whereabouts of the father are unknown.
If the man denies he is the father of the child, a denial of paternity and a
waiver of notice of the adoption proceeding may be signed by him either before
or after the birth. By doing so, the birth father would have no further
involvement in the matter.
Yes. South Carolina law specifically recognizes the validity of such a
consent.
No. Under South Carolina law, a consent cannot be withdrawn for any reason
after the adoption is final. It may only be withdrawn prior to that time upon
showing that the consent was not given voluntarily or was obtained under duress
or coercion. Generally, that is a very difficult thing to prove. A birth mother
should not sign a consent if she is not certain the adoption is in the best
interests of the child.
Generally, neither of the birth parents need to appear in court. The adoptive
parents, generally, make only one court appearance, which usually occurs at the
hearing three to six months after the filing of the papers to adopt. South
Carolina provides that the adoptive couple have legal custody at the time the
infant is placed with them and the adoption papers are filed.
Adoptive parents undergo a careful screening process which often includes
counseling. The screening also includes a home study of the adoptive couple as
stable and financially secure individuals, loving and affectionate marriage
partners, and caring prospective parents.
No. In private adoption, the baby goes directly from the hospital to the home
of the adoptive parents, allowing the bonding process to begin immediately.
No. Generally, birth mothers want their children very much, and have explored
all other possibilities and alternatives before making an adoption plan for the
child. Typically, the birth mother will place her feelings of the child above
her own feelings in arranging for the adoption.
Facts about Private Adoption in South Carolina
From a Brochure by Richard C. Bell
Page Copyright © 2000 Stephen Yacobi Law Firm. All rights reserved.
Revised: July 28, 2005
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