02/ Types of Adoption
Step Two: Learn about the different types of adoption
The Complete Guide to Adoption in Kansas ~ Types of Adoption
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When thinking about adoption, the universal image is a swaddled newborn arriving home from the hospital. However, there are many more avenues to building a family than this one. While the premise of adoption, creating a legal parent-child relationship between two people, is the same, this chapter will talk about 13 types of adoption, or in other words, what kind of parent-child relationship is being formed.
Open Adoption & Closed Adoption
Unlike the other types of adoption, open and closed adoptions refer to the relationship between the birth parents and the adoptive family. It is typical for birth parents to want to maintain a line of communication with the adoptive family through annual cards and letters, a private Facebook page, or occasional visits. This is an open adoption. Nowadays, on very rare occasions, the birth parents do not want to remain in contact, or even more rare, they do not want any information outside of what they may have learned by reviewing adoption profiles about the adoptive family. As an adoptive family, you have to decide what level of openness is comfortable and works for your family because, in the end, the decision rests with the birth parents; they choose the family that aligns most closely with their wishes.
Open: Birth parents have direct contact with the adoptive parents before and after the adoption. The birth parents decide how much information they want to know or share. Together with the adoptive parents, they also choose how much contact they want with the adoptive parents and the child once the adoption is finalized.
Closed: Birth parents may be given some non-identifying information about the adoptive parents but have no specific information about the adoptive parents. The adoptive parents learn about the birth parents and are given information that might help them care for the child, but they are not given any identifying information. Generally, there is no contact before or after the baby is placed with the adoptive family. Any ongoing communication is shared through a third party until the child reaches 18 years of age.
While these two options are on opposite ends of the spectrum, today's reality is much different. Most adoptions end up somewhere between these two extremes. There are many options for how this relationship will grow between the birth parents, the adoptive family, and the adopted child. What will work for one family may not work for another.
Domestic or Independent Adoption
Domestic or independent adoption is where the birth parents create an adoption plan to place their baby with an adoptive family directly at the hospital. The birth parents will sign over temporary custody and power of attorney for medical care to the adoptive family, which will remain in effect until the adoption is finalized. Typically, this adoption type does not involve a public or private adoption agency but an adoption attorney who works with all parties. Kansas is a dual-representation state, meaning that an adoption attorney may represent both the adoptive family and the birth mother, as their interests are aligned, i.e., everyone is working towards the same outcome. The parental rights of the birth parents are terminated at the finalization hearing.
Private Agency Adoption
An adoption agency can help the birth parents or adoptive parents find one another. The agency typically provides adoption services such as counseling and financial support to the birth parents. In addition, the birth parents may be involved when choosing the adoptive parents by reviewing the adoption profiles of interested parents. In a private agency adoption, a birth parent relinquishes their parental rights to the adoption agency by signing a relinquishment in favor of the agency. Similar to a consent in an independent adoption, a relinquishment, which in Kansas is irrevocable after signing, gives the agency the right to place the child for adoption. The agency then places the child for adoption with adoptive parents selected by either the birth parent or the agency, and then the agency signs a consent to the adoption. The rights of the birth parents are terminated at the finalization hearing.
Public Agency Adoption/Foster Care Adoption
Foster care adoptions come through a public agency, such as the Department for Children and Families (DCF) through the Child Welfare Case Management Providers, a private contractor responsible for finding homes for children who do not have another adoption resource available. Once a child has been removed from their home, DCF will place the child into a foster home. If the situation is not resolved and the child is not returned to their family, the State will begin court proceedings to terminate the parents' rights. If DCF maintains custody, the child will frequently be placed for adoption with the foster parents who have cared for them. The adoption then proceeds by filing the Petition for Adoption and navigating the court system until the adoption is finalized, similar to the private agency adoption. However, with this adoption, the parental rights have been terminated, and DCF has been granted the authority to consent to the child's adoption.
Stepparent Adoption
A stepparent adoption is an independent adoption where a stepparent adopts their spouse's child, and the consenting spouse maintains parental rights. Stepparent adoptions can be complex, especially if the non-consenting biological/legal parent is still alive and that parent is not in agreement with the new spouse adopting the child. Because parental rights are involved, and one parent's rights may be terminated, the nonconsenting parent must be notified of the stepparent's intent to adopt. If the biological/legal parent cannot be found or refuses to consent, it is still possible for a court to grant the adoption, but only after a court trial. Unlike other types of adoptions, the requirement for a home study can be waived in this type of adoption.
Adult Adoption
An adult adoption occurs when one adult adopts another. Once an adult adoption is complete, the parties have a legal parent-child relationship with all associated rights and responsibilities. The most common reason to adopt an adult is for inheritance purposes. The second reason, almost as common, is formalizing an existing parent/child relationship, such as adopting a now-adult foster child or stepchild. Adult adoption may also be done to provide care for an adult with diminished capacity or a disability. Through this adoption process, one adult becomes the responsible party and decision-maker for another adult's care. An adult adoption proceeds under the same rules and statutes as an independent/private adoption. However, one difference is who needs to consent. The adult adoptee gives their consent to the adoption, and the spouse of the petitioner or the spouse's legal guardian, if they are disabled, must consent.
Relative/Kinship Adoption
A relative adoption is the adoption of a child related by blood or marriage to the prospective adoptive parents. Since the birth parent(s) are placing the child directly with the relative, there likely will be no agency involvement. Similar to all of the above, termination of parental rights of the legal parents must occur either with them voluntarily signing a consent or involuntary having their rights terminated by a court based on lack of financial or emotional involvement. One difference here, just like in a stepparent adoption, is that the requirement for a home study can be waived because a relative is adopting.
Interstate Adoption (ICPC)
The Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children (ICPC) is a statutory law adopted by all 50 states and US territories. The ICPC requires that before a child can be moved from one state to another for the purposes of adoption, both states must review the adoption materials, including the adoption home study, and approve the transfer of the child. One thing that the Compact Administrators in both states look at is how the birth parents' parental rights are to be handled – have consents been obtained from one or both birth parents, or will one parent's rights be terminated by a court trial. It is important to know that the adopting couple MAY NOT leave the home state of the infant they are adopting until approval has been received from both states. Because all the documents are processed electronically, ICPC approval can occur quickly if everything is in order. Upon arriving back to the state of residence of the adoptive couple, the adoption will proceed as any other. However, a copy of the Adoption Decree must be forwarded to the Compact Administrator in the original state upon finalization, and the post-placement report must be written by the social worker who wrote the adoption home study. There are many parts to an interstate adoption, and each must be followed to the letter.
Domestication of a Foreign Adoption
Re-adoption or domestication of a foreign guardianship or adoption requires a court hearing in the adoptive parents' home state. Depending on the type of visa the child entered the United States with, domestication may or may not be necessary to complete the immigration process. The reasons to go through the domestication process include the following:
Changing the child's name if necessary.
Having state-specific documents (final adoption decree), that can be used instead of a Foreign Decree.
Obtaining a Certificate of Birth from your state for the foreign-born child.
It is important to note that a Certificate of Birth does NOT establish citizenship, and the document itself will state that it is not proof of citizenship.
Single Parent Adoption
Adopting as a single parent is not any different than it is for a married or partnered couple. While there was a time when a single person would have been discouraged from adopting based solely on the stigma of single parenthood, that is fortunately no longer the case. Know that many thousands of children have been adopted by single men and women who have chosen to become adoptive parents.
LGBTQ or Same Sex Adoption
According to The Human Rights Campaign, an estimated 2 million LGBTQ adults in the US are hopeful adoptive parents. Unmarried same-sex couples are treated under Kansas law as any unmarried couple would be when adopting. Only one person may adopt, even though two people may equally parent the child and consider themselves co-parents. If the couple is married, the adoption will proceed like any other, with both parents as the child's adoptive parents. The same holds true even when one parent has a biological connection to a child, i.e., if the couple is unmarried, there is only one parent, and the partner cannot adopt; if married, the adoption would follow the standard adoption process. One caveat to this arrangement was decided by a Kansas Supreme Court ruling. The Court said that a co-parenting agreement between the parties is enforceable under the law.
Second Parent or Co-Parent Adoption
Unlike a stepparent adoption, a second-parent or co-parent adoption occurs when there has been no marriage. This allows a second parent to adopt a child without the "first parent" losing any parental rights. In this way, the child comes to have two legal parents. This type of adoption is akin to rights given to unmarried parents in domestic custody or visitation cases. This type of adoption is not available in Kansas but is allowed in 20 states, DC, and the US Virgin Islands. However, as a sort of "work-around," a written co-parenting agreement or a custody agreement can be written. It is important to recognize that these steps, described below, are not guaranteed to secure your parental rights because courts are not required to uphold such agreements but, instead, consider the best interest of the child the primary concern. However, in February 2013, the Kansas Supreme Court issued a ruling protecting the rights of same-sex couples to be recognized as the legal parents of the children they are raising together. The case involved two women, Marci Frazier and Kelly Goudschaal, who had Chapter 2been raising children together but faced a custody dispute after separating. The Court ruled that the co-parenting contract the couple had signed was valid and should be recognized because their children are better off having two parents than just one.
Embryo Adoption & Gestational Surrogate
While the embryo adoption process involves many of the same steps as infant adoption — such as the matching process and adoption home study — there are some differences adoptive parents should take into account when deciding which form of adoption is right for them. The biggest difference between adopting an embryo and adopting an infant is the pregnancy experience. Parents who choose embryo adoption carry and deliver their adopted child themselves, whereas parents pursuing traditional domestic infant adoption rely on the baby’s birth mother to carry and deliver the baby before she relinquishes her parental rights. Because the adoptive mother carries the child, the adopting parents have legal rights and responsibility for the embryos prior to birth, eliminating the chance that the birth mother could change her mind and decide to parent her child.
In gestational surrogacy, the surrogate mother is not related to the child she carries. Instead, she becomes pregnant through an embryo transfer using the intended parents’ or donors’ genetic materials. This is one of the biggest differences between gestational surrogacy and adoption. In adoption, the birth mother is the biological mother of her child, which can have legal and emotional implications that aren’t applicable to surrogacy. Women facing unplanned pregnancies often have more complicated emotions to process and different factors to consider than surrogate mothers.
The surrogacy process also allows one or both intended parents to be the genetic parents of their child. This makes surrogacy a popular choice for prospective parents who feel strongly about maintaining a genetic link to their children. Having a biological connection to the child also simplifies the legal process and gives intended parents more control over the surrogacy process.