Why Make Private Adoptions So Difficult?
Amendments to Virginia’s adoption laws that became effective yesterday make it more difficult and more expensive for Virginians to privately adopt a baby or place a baby for adoption. Instead of helping to regulate the adoption process, they instead may force Virginians to go out of state for private adoptions. These amendments: Penalize the birth mother in a private adoption by limiting to medical expenses and legal fees the financial assistance she may receive from the adoptive parents. Adoptive parents are prohibited from helping birth mothers with housing, food or clothing during their pregnancies help a birth mother may receive from an adoption agency if she places the child with it. (Previously, judges reviewed financial assistance on a case-by-case basis.) The new law also requires that private financial agreements but not agency ones be given to the court. Require the birth mother to know the identity of the adoptive couple even if she doesn’t want to know. Confidentiality will
