Hiring a Family Attorney May Save Your Adoption

Whether you have several children and want to expand your family or whether you are a couple who struggles to have children biologically, adoption may be a great option for you. Whether through foreign or through domestic agencies, there are many children in need of loving families who desire to raise and love them as one of their own.

There are several steps to a private domestic adoption, and the first step is to hire a family attorney who will become your liaison in the court of law. Because laws regarding adoptions vary by state this attorney can help you get through the process. Some states require a lawyer to help you with each step, while others are only authorized to help finalize the adoptions after the child has been matched to the parents. Whether required or not, it may be beneficial to hire one anyway so that you can make sure that the paperwork is done right to save you some of the heartbreak that comes with failed adoptions due to not having all the needed paperwork. The attorney can also make sure that the money that you pay for your adoption goes to all the right places, and that the relationship between the biological parents and the child no longer exists, because, legally an adopted child becomes the child of the adoptive parents.

Once you have your lawyer working on the paperwork, you need to find a child. Sometimes you know the biological parent personally and the process is simple, other times, you need to go through an agency or purchase ads in local newspapers. Another option you can use is your state's foster care system, where you can find older children or siblings who have become wards of the state because the parents can no longer care for them.

Once a child is found, most states require that you then be reviewed and approved through a home study, which is performed by a social worker to make sure that the child's new home is a safe environment for him to be raised. They will make sure that you will be stable parents and that there are good relationships between the other family members in your home.

Once the baby has been born and the papers have been signed, the child will go into your custody while the family attorney works with the courts to finalize the adoption. This process could take up to six months and usually requires you to appear before the judge and declare your intent. After reviewing your files, the judge will declare the child legally yours and the child will take on your last name.

The process can be long, tedious, expensive, and sometimes heartbreaking, but when done right, will be very rewarding as you raise the child in your home as a member of your family.