Birth Parents Rights
While a birth parent may choose to place a child for adoption any time during the pregnancy or even after the baby has been born, the child remains the birth mother's until her parental rights are ended.
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If the birth mother is married to a man other than the birth father, both the husband and the birth father have rights which must be legally ended. Ending of these rights typically involves an attorney and/or an adoption agency.
Ending of Parental Rights
This ending of parental rights is called a termination, relinquishment, or surrender. This can be done voluntarily or involuntarily. Only after the termination of parental rights can the child be adopted.
Sometimes one of the biological parents voluntarily ends their parental rights while the other parent has their rights ended involuntarily. However, if either the birth mother or birth father are desirous of raising the child and are willing to act on this desire, under normal circumstances an adoption cannot take place.
Additionally, if the parental rights are not ended properly, it could result in a disruption where an adoping family could end up having to return the child to the birthmother.
Voluntary Termination of Parental Rights
The time frames and procedures for the voluntary ending of parental rights are different in every state and even within a state they can vary depending on the level of cooperation of both the birth mother and birth father, the ages of the biological parents, the any other state that may bbe involved.
In some states the parental rights can be voluntarily ending almost immediately after the baby is born while in other states ending of the parental rights requires the passage of 30-40 or more days and a hearing before a judge.
The child adoption agency you select or the adoption attorney you work with will be able to help you address the ending of parental rights. You may want to read the state laws under the heading of "termination of parental rights", of the state in which the birth father and birth mother reside. This can be done on this website at State Adoption Laws or on the website ChildAdoptionLaws.com. or the Child Welfare Information Gateway link State Statutes.
Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights
The involuntary ending of parental rights is done when the court determines that the child cannot safely be returned home. As with a voluntary termination of parental rights, the involuntary termination of parental rights varies in time and process from state to state. Generally the most frequent grounds for the involuntary termination of parental rights include:
- abandonment of the child
- parental abuse or neglect of the child or other children in the home
- mental illness or deficiency of the parent(s)
- alcohol or drug Induced incapacity of the parent
- parental failure to support or maintain contact with the child
- parental commission of a sex crime or other acts of violence against the child.
Additional Help and Resources
Adoption Services has 40+ years of experience with both the voluntary and involuntary termination of parental rights. We are able to help you with a child adoption regardless of the state in which you reside.
For additional help finding an adoption agency please visit our home page and the links Adoption Agencies: Domestic and Adoption Agencies: International.
If you need or want some specific personal advice contact your state child welfare agency or state adoption contact. You can also contact Dr. Vince Berger, a PhD psychologist and adoption professional with over 40 years of experience.