Adoption Laws Research Essay

Every nation has laws and rules that control the adoption of children. The laws governing infant adoption in the US differ slightly between each state. Various laws also control the likelihood of adoption fraud, the various kinds of adoption, possible issues that could arise from adoption, and the safe haven laws. The termination of the biological parents’ parental rights is the first move in any legal abortion case (O’Donnell, Laura A. 48). The final step in the adoption process involves making the adoption option in court by accepting to take the responsibility of the child as his or her legal

parents. There are also other laws that need to be fulfilled for an individual to adopt a child. This paper describes the laws that govern child adoption as one of the laws under the family laws.

Adoption creates permanent new family ties. The laws do not permit the biological parents of the child to stop taking the responsibilities of taking care of the child. Those who have adopted the child do since they are legally mandated to do so. In the case of stepparent adoption, the birth parents of the child can join the stepparents in raising the child. In most countries, individuals who are permanent residents of the countries are normally allowed to adopt children whether they are having same sex or opposite sex relationships. There are four type of adoption, which include direct adoption whereby individuals who are not their relatives adopt a child. There is also relative adoption whereby a child is taken care of by a stepparent or a relative. Placement by agencies of adoption and placement by the director of adoption are also known types of adoption.

The process termination of the parental rights on the child involves court hearing whereby the parent’s legal rights on the child are terminated. The court hearing should be conducted before the child can be declared free for adoption legally. Termination of the parental rights might be done with the consent or without the consent of the biological parents of the child (O’Donnell, Laura A. 48). Depending on the rules of the country, the biological parents of the child are normally given some duration to appeal concerning the court decisions concerning the adoption ruling.

The laws also recognize the legal risks of adoption whereby the child is placed under the see of the adoption parents before the legal termination of the legal ownership of their birth parents is terminated. There is high probability that the relatives of the child might prove to be the parent of the child (O’Donnell, Laura A. 48). Infant adoption is also considered to be high risk automatically because the child requires the support of the biological mother to survive. Adoption of children whom their biological parents are expected to accept the adoption policies is considered of low risks.

There are also incidences of adoption frauds that are dealt with by the laws of adoption. The adoption frauds may be considered engagement into the adoption activities with the aims of getting financial gains (Jayaraman, 95). The frauds might involve the parents of the child not giving the right background information of the child just to get financial gain from the frauds. The rules against adoption frauds ensure that the parents face the law.

Countries also have the safe Haven laws whereby the biological parents can drop their children in designated safe places (Jayaraman, 97). The child can be adopted for some time then the parents might have the opportunity to look for their children with a given time period after which the window is closed.

Works Cited

Jayaraman, Sudarshan, and Lakshmanan Shivakumar. “Agency-based demand for conservatism: evidence from state adoption of antitakeover laws.” Review of Accounting Studies 18.1 (2013): 95-134.

O’Donnell, Laura A. “The Client’s Chosen Child: Adoption Laws, Regulations, and Processes for the Legal Assistance Attorney.” Army Law. (2015): 48.