Must the rights of both biological parents be terminated in order for a child to be legally free for adoption?
ANSWER In order for a child to be legally free for adoption, the rights of both biological parents must be either voluntarily relinquished or terminated by court order. Biological parents may voluntarily consent to the termination of their parental rights. While it is common for biological parents to sign a consent form before the child is born, this initial consent is not binding. Biological parents in some states have a right to revoke their consent after the child is born for a certain time period. In most states, the time period is relatively short, such as 48-72 hours. The Uniform Adoption Act, which has been adopted by some states and is being considered by others, allows biological parents eight days to revoke their initial consent. If the biological parents consent to adoption after the birth of the child, the consent is much harder to revoke – usually only if it can be shown there was fraud or duress. High standards must be met for a state to terminate parental rights by a cou
Related Questions
- I know that, in an agency adoption, the birth parents surrender their rights to the agency. Can the agency place a child with a family other than one selected by the birth parents?
- How soon after a child is born in an adoption matter can the biological parents rights be terminated?
- Can the biological parents of the child retain any rights after the adoption is approved?
