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Private (Direct Placement) Adoption

Private adoptions, also known as independent or designated adoptions, occur when the adoptive parents and birth parents meet and connect with each other without the involvement of an adoption agency.

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In a private adoption, the adoptive parents and birth mother may find each other through their own networking or advertising efforts, or through mutual acquaintances or family connections.

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They work together to decide the terms of the adoption and the level of contact or “openness” they will have after the adoption. Following the match, the adoptive parents typically hire a qualified adoption attorney to handle and run the adoption, with the help of adoption social workers that will separately assist and counsel with the adoptive couple and the birth parents. The attorney and social workers will assist the both sides with completing all the necessary legal requirements, such as a home study, background checks, needed clinical counseling, paperwork and filings, and ensuring that the adoption is completed in compliance with state laws.

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Family and Relative Adoptions are considered private adoptions, but in many circumstances, when you are closely related to one of the birth parents, or the child, the adoptive couple may not need an adoption home study.

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Same Sex Couples and single individuals can also adopt in Utah and Derek handles many adoptions for these types of families. There are no differences in the law for how these couples are treated when adopting and they follow the same process outlined above.

Agency Adoption

Agency adoptions occur when a Utah licensed adoption agency works with the birth parents to identify and select prospective adoptive parents. The agency provides counseling and support to the birth parents, arranges for the necessary legal and medical services, and assists with the placement of the child with the adoptive parents. The agency also conducts the home study and background checks on the adoptive parents.

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After a match is made, the agency is responsible for addressing the rights of the biological or legal parents, and taking the necessary consents relinquishments of parental rights from the birth parents. With agency adoptions, an attorney is still needed to file the court paperwork and attend the finalization hearing, but the attorney’s role is more limited than with private adoptions because the licensed agency performs many of the functions the attorney and social workers perform in private adoptions.

Relative and Stepparent Adoption

In Utah, like most states, the process for the adoption of a child by a relative or stepparent can, in some ways, be simpler than other adoptions. Often, relatives will start out as extended babysitters for a grandchild, niece or nephew, or maybe get guardianship over a relative child. It is common for the family member to then want to formally adoption the child.

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In Utah, one of the most significant differences between a relative adoption and a typical private adoption is that an adoption pre-placement home study is not required for the person(s) adopting the child if the prospective adoptive parent is related to either one of the biological parents or the child as a step-parent, sibling (half or whole), grandparent, aunt, uncle, or first cousin. This can save prospective adoptive parents hundreds of dollars.

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Similarly, most relative adoptions are not subject to the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC). The definition of “relative” may be different between different states and the ICPC. Unlike Utah’s home study relative exemption law where you look at the relation to either the biological parent or the child, the ICPC relative exemption only applies to cases where the child is sent from one state by a parent, step-parent, grandparent, adult brother or sister, adult uncle or aunt, or his guardian, to another state to live with any such relative.

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Another way that step-parent adoptions are different from regular adoption is the waiting period to finalize the adoption. Normally, a couple adopting a child must have the child in their home for at least six months before they may go to court and finalize the adoption. A step-parent that wants to adopt his spouse’s child, must live together with the child for one year before finalizing the step-parent adoption.

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Besides these exceptions, relative and step-parent adoptions follow the same procedural process as regular adoptions. The rights of the biological parents must be addressed either through signed consents and relinquishment of their parental rights, determination that they do not have rights to notice or consent, or by waiver of their rights following notice. Each case should be discussed with a qualified adoption attorney to make sure that the rights of the biological parents are properly addressed.

Foster Care Adoption

Utah, like every other state, has many kids in foster care that are waiting to be adopted. Children adopted out of foster care are typically older and/or may have challenging medical or behavioral needs, and often come from homes where they were living in unsafe conditions.

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Adopting out of foster care follows a similar legal process to private adoptions. The foster parents must typically first go through a certification process including classes and training on parenting children that have been through difficult circumstances, a home study, and multiple background checks. Then, after the parental rights of the biological parents have been terminated, the adoption can be finalized. In Utah, foster care cases are handled in juvenile court. The State of Utah is the “agency” with legal custody. The child will also have a lawyer called a Guardian ad Litem. All of the parties work together with the judge to create an adoption plan that is in the best interest of the child.

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Because the State and our whole society benefits from these children being adopted into strong, stable families, there are significant incentives, primarily financial, to pursuing foster care adoptions. For example, there is no cost for the home study, training and education classes, and to become certified foster parents. There are no agency, application, or placement fees, and the State of Utah will reimburse the foster parents up to $2,000 per child for attorney fees or other out of pocket costs. In some instances, the child may be eligible for an ongoing adoption subsidy payment, health insurance coverage until the child turns 18. Finally, a family adopting from foster care may be able to take the entire federal Adoption Tax Credit in the year of finalization even if the adoption cost the family less than the entire amount.

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Additional Resources about becoming Utah Foster Parents:

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• Utah Foster Care

• Raise the Future

• Utah’s Child and Family Services

International Adoption

International adoptions have dramatically decreased in recent years for many different reasons. One of them is that they are highly regulated by the governments of the different countries, especially the United States. There is not really a process for privately adopting a child from another country. Nearly all international adoptions are finalized in the other country before the child is brought home to the United States. Therefore, international adoptions do not typically go through the Utah courts like other types of adoption.

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In Utah, there is a law that allows an international adoption finalized in the other country to be “registered” in Utah through a court process. It is not required by Utah law to register foreign adoptions. It is simply a process available if it may be needed for certain circumstances. Sometimes the adopting couple wants a Utah birth certificate generated for their foreign adoptee. Derek can usually assist with registering your foreign adoption in Utah.

Interstate (CPC) Adoption

If the adoptive couple lives in a different state than child they are adopting then the adoption constitutes an Interstate adoption and is subject to the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC). The ICPC is a law that has been passed in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands that governs the placement of children across state lines for the purposes of adoption, foster care, or residential treatment.

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The ICPC was created to ensure that the best interests of the child are protected when they are placed outside their state of residence. The agreement requires that both the “sending state” (the state where the child lives) and the “receiving state” (the state where the child will be placed) work together to ensure that the placement is in the child’s best interest and that all necessary legal requirements are met.

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After the couple travels to the other state to take custody of the child, the agency, or lawyer handling the adoption will create a packet of documents and information and submit it to the sending state ICPC administrator. After reviewing and approving, the sending state administrator will transfer the ICPC request to the receiving state’s ICPC administrator. Most states do these transfers electronically.

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Once approved by both states, the couple will get the green light to travel home with the child. The length of time to complete this process varies by state, but generally couples should expect to spent 1 to 2 weeks in the other state before returning home.

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With interstate adoptions, adoption professionals are required in the sending state to assist the agency or attorney with the birth parent services, to ensure that there is compliance with or waiver of the sending state’s laws. Couples pursuing an interstate adoption placement should plan to budget extra money for the additional expenses associated with travel, lodging, food, and professional birth parent services.

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A qualified and experienced adoption attorney can advise you on the best state to finalize your adoption and other legal issues you should consider when creating your interstate adoption plan. Derek and his team are very experienced in handling interstate adoptions whether they are private adoptions he manages, or those run by a licensed child-placing agency.