Can single people adopt ?
Certainly. While many agencies and some countries will only work with married couples, others are happy to work with singles. The JCAN will gladly register single parents in our database. Why does the JCAN encourage “open” adoption? Based on our personal experiences with adoption, but, more importantly, having spoken to many adults who were adopted as children, it is clear to us that (a)both the adoptive family and adopted child can often gain much important information from the birth family, which can sometimes be of significance to the health and welfare of the child, (b)the ongoing relationship that the adoptive and birth families have, often gives validity to the adoption, enhances the self-esteem of the adoptee, and allows all members of the triad to feel that the adoption was the best possible decision for all involved. The concept of closed adoption arose at the beginning of this century because people felt there was shame in being born out of wedlock, and it continued because i
Yes. New Jersey law allows anyone over the age of 18 to adopt, including single people, gay and lesbian people, and homosexual couples. All of these people must meet certain requirements, of course. They must all be approved as fit parents by an agency licensed to investigate prospective adoptive parents. Some birthparents may not wish to place their child with a single parent, but there is no law against it.
The question of whether single people are entitled to adopt arises quite frequently. This may arise where a step parent, now single due to death or other causes, wishes to adopt a step child. A single grandparent may ask this question. I have seen several instances where the birth mother of an infant has struck up a close friendship with someone whom she trusts, and asks that single person to adopt this newly born child. Sometimes when asked this question, I see that there is a “significant other” in the background, but that person is not fully part of the process. This may be because the relationship is a new or an unsettled one, or the person may be a same sex partner who for some reason is uncertain about whether to come forward and be a formal part of the adoption process.
