Adoption is a life-changing decision for all involved. The process is exciting, but also overwhelming and confusing. To look at the different types of adoption, click here. Once you determine this is the right route for you and your family, it’s in your best interest to find an experienced lawyer for adoption. This is true for both adoptive and birth parents.
Can I adopt a child?
Once you decide that adoption is the right choice for you and your family, you’ll undergo the rigorous vetting process. This vetting process is an important safety measure for the adopted child; it ensures that the home they are going into – your home – is a warm, loving, and safe environment.
Adoption agencies will conduct home visits, background checks, and interviews to verify your eligibility prior to approval. Once approved, you can begin the process of searching for the right child for your home. Once you have found the child you wish to adopt – either through an adoption agency, CYFD, or another private channel – you will begin the complex legal process of adoption. This process includes filing petitions, ensuring the appropriate parties gave consent, and finalizing the adoption with a New Mexico court.
Why Adoptive Parents Need a Lawyer for Adoption
You want to make sure your child is with you forever. As such, you need to get every detail right when going through the adoption process. The adoption may not be approved if a mistake happens during the adoption process. Or worse, it can be invalidated later. Either outcome can be devastating. Having an experienced adoption attorney on your side prevents any oversights.
This includes:
- Filing all relevant forms, petitions, and documents with the court. The State of New Mexico requires extensive and specific paperwork to be submitted to a court prior to finalizing an adoption. Having an attorney who is familiar with these forms will ensure that it is all done correctly so you can focus on your family.
- Completing the extensive background check. This may include gathering financial information, fingerprints, references, and health records
- Confirming birth parents’ rights have been terminated. This includes both the mother and the father of the child you wish to adopt. It may require tracking down the birth father to obtain his permission for the adoption to go through.
Why Birth Parents Need a Lawyer for Adoption
Placing a child for adoption can be one of the most challenging decisions you will face. Having an attorney will help you through the process and they’ll protect your rights.
This includes:
- Counseling in regards to the adoption agreement: your hopes for your child’s future matter. By working with an attorney, you can decide what type of adoption best fits your circumstances, whether that be open, closed, or a family adoption.
- Securing informed adoption consent. Under New Mexico law, consent of both birth parents must be given in writing for an adoption to be valid. In some instances, paternity may be an issue and an attorney can help in that determination. An adoption attorney can also help make the process more efficient if any other parties – such as the state, a foster care agency, or another guardian – has to provide consent.
There are many steps and details that cannot be missed for a successful adoption. This is true for both parties. If this is the right path for you and your family, contact an experienced lawyer for your adoption.
You made an interesting point when you mentioned that it is important to get every detail right when you are going through the adoption process. With that in mind, it seems like it would be a good idea to find a family lawyer that has a good idea for detail. You would want to ask the lawyer a lot of questions so that you can know if they are going to be good with the details.
Absolutely! Asking questions is always a good idea