Information for Birth Parents
Call us toll-free at 1-888-883-6830
Are you pregnant and considering adoption as an option?
We are a small law firm of all women offering adoption services with care, concern and a personal touch. We are available to speak with you, free of charge, and provide information concerning placing a child for adoption. You may call us anytime, toll-free at (888) 883-6830 or at (850) 577-3077. Our telephones are answered 24 hours a day. We will try to give you the information you need to assist you in making the decisions that are right for you and your child and to ensure your child is raised in a loving, safe and secure home. We can discuss providing quality medical care and counseling, and needed assistance with living expenses, transportation and clothing. We are available to assist in making the adoption plans that are right for you.
Questions & Answers
While these questions and answers are directed at birth mothers or women considering the option of adoption, the answers may also be relevant to birth fathers and others who may be participating in the process.
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For more information, select the topics of interest to you:
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What is Adoption?
As commonly known, adoption is the legal process by which parents, commonly known as birth parents, allow another to assume all parental responsibilities for their child. In doing this, they give up their rights as parents. Florida law states that adoption is the act of creating the legal relationship between parent and child where it did not previously exist, thereby declaring the child to be the legal child of the adoptive parents.
In Florida, adoptions may occur as a private placement through an attorney or as an agency placement. In private placement adoptions, both prospective adoptive parents and birth parents seek out an adoption attorney in hopes of finding a match. Through family profiles, personal biographies and/or photographs presented by the attorney, birth parents typically select a family. While it is not required that birth parents make the selection, in most cases, birth parents have input into this selection either by providing a list of criteria for a possible adoptive family, reviewing profiles and information about families, or in some cases meeting the potential families on the telephone or in person, if they so desire.
While some agencies will place a child in foster care, this office utilizes direct placement, without need for foster care. Our attorney and social work staff are experienced and have worked in adoption for many years. We would be happy to speak with you regarding adoption as an option for you and your child.
What is open adoption?
The contact or relationship between the adoptive parents and biological or birth parents is referred to as "openness" in an adoption. The term "open adoption" does not have one specific meaning, but includes many forms of contact and relationships that birth and adoptive families choose to have with one another. We work with many different types of adoption, including open adoptions, closed adoptions and many variations in between. You may select the type of adoption that works best for you and your child.
Open adoption can refer to:
Adoptive and birth parents who choose to meet on a first-name basis for one meeting before the birth of the child, but decide to have no further contact.
Adoptive and birth parents who choose to have some form of an on-going relationship throughout the term of pregnancy and may maintain that contact throughout the labor and delivery process and immediately after birth, before the baby goes home from the hospital.
doptive and birth parents who choose to have some form of an on-going contact whether through cards, letters, email, blogs, web sites and/or photographs.
Adoptive and birth parents who choose to have an on-going, in person contact between the birth parent(s) and child.
At what point in my pregnancy may I make plans for adoption?
In Florida, the actual consent for the adoption of your child may only be signed after the child's birth. However, you may make plans for adoption at any point in your pregnancy, including selecting an adoptive family. We can even work with you while you are at the hospital, and after delivery. An adoption plan may even be made once you have taken the child home.
May I select the family to adopt my child?
Yes, in private adoption you may discuss your individual desires for an adoptive family with us and we will present families who meet the qualities you are looking for. These desires may include such characteristics of adoptive parents as religious preference, race, age, the existence of children already in the family or other factors which you deem important in your selection of a family. Most adoption attorneys maintain information such as profiles and photographs of the families which birth parents may review when making this decision. You may also have your individual questions regarding a particular family answered and, in most instances, you may speak with or meet with the families as you desire so that you may feel assured this is the right family for you and your child.
How will I know an adoptive family will take good are of my child?
Prospective Adoptive parents must complete an extensive screening process before they are approved to adopt. This process includes visits to their home, interviews, providing references and those references being checked, criminal background investigations, assurances of financial ability to care for a child, the review of medical and financial information and counseling to prepare them for adoption. All adoptive parents must be approved by the court in which they adopt. You may also have the opportunity to select the family, speak with them, ask them questions and meet in person, so that you may feel assured of your decision.
What type of assistance may I receive during my pregnancy?
Dependent upon your individual needs, and in some instances, the approval of the court, the family you have selected may assist you with:
- Medical care and medications
- Counseling
- Living expenses such as rent, utilities, telephone, toiletries and groceries
- Transportation
- Clothing
May I see the baby after birth?
Yes. You decide how much contact you would like to have with the baby and if you would like anyone else to visit with and/or see the baby prior to adoption.
When would I sign the papers for the adoption?
After the birth of the child, typically before release from the hospital and typically after 48 hours. In some circumstances the paperwork may be signed earlier than 48 hours, but only after medical discharge from the hospital.
After I sign the papers may I change my mind?
Generally, no. In Florida, once the consent for adoption of a newborn is signed, the consent is binding and irrevocable unless obtained by fraud or duress.
Will my baby have to be placed in foster care?
No. In private placement adoption there is no requirement for foster care. The adoption attorney can arrange for the placement of your child with the adoptive family directly upon discharge from the hospital. If you desire, in most cases, the adoptive family can be present at delivery and can have contact with the child immediately after birth and you can be present for the placement of the child with the family, if you so choose.
May I receive photographs and information about my child after the adoption?
Yes. Many adoptive and birth parents choose to share information about the child during some part of the child's life. Typically, adoptive parents will send photographs with short letters updating birth parents on the progress of the child for some period of time during the child's early years, if requested, or provide the information via a website, email, blog or other similar means. Please talk with us about your desires so that we can assist you with identifying a family to meet those needs.
May my child find me when he or she grows up?
Florida provides an Adoption Reunion Registry which allows birth parents the option to provide information to be given to their biological children who are placed for adoption when the child becomes an adult or for release to the adoptive family. Additionally, you may elect to provide this information directly to the adoptive family so they may share it with the child.
Will my child understand why I placed him or her for adoption?
While no one can answer this questions for you with certainty, today it is much more common for adoptive families to discuss with children the fact that they were adopted and the reasons that they were placed for adoption. In some instances, birth parents elect to write a letter to their child explaining their particular decision and reasons for placing their child for adoption, or preparing a small memory book. Many adoptive families choose to share this information with the child by placing it in a special place or including it in a life book or baby book. Information like this can often help a child understand the situation as they grow up.
Who may I talk to about this decision?
If you would like to speak with a professional about your situation and the adoption options available, you may call us anytime, toll-free at (888) 883-6830 or at (850) 577-3077. Our telephones are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are caring, experienced professionals who will listen. We would be happy to speak with you about adoption, share information about families looking to adopt a child, discuss types of assistance available and answer your questions. We can assure you receive a full range of needed professional services including counseling and medical care. Your call is confidential. We will also be happy to make arrangements to meet with you in person. Your call does not obligate you to place your child for adoption and is confidential.
Should I place my child for adoption?
The decision to place a child for adoption is a difficult one only you can answer. We can not answer this question for you, no one can. We can provide you with information you may need to help make this decision, and we are willing to offer you caring support and make arrangements for you to receive counseling.
Must I provide personal information to the adoption attorney?
It is most important that birth parents provide full medical history concerning themselves and their families as is reasonably possible. This information will assist medical professionals in caring for your child as he or she grows up and will also assist the attorney in finding the right family for your child.
Does my family have to know about the adoption?
No, generally the only people that must know about a decision to place a child for adoption are the biological mother's legal husband, and if there is no such person, any father who has registered with Florida's Putative Father Registry or who has initiated legal proceedings to be declared the father or to establish custody or visitation. Any identified birth father must be provided a notice of intended adoption plan.
What if I am under the age of eighteen?
A birth parent under the age of eighteen has the power to consent to the adoption without parental consent. It is not required that your parents or family members be contacted. If you are under 14, your consent must be witnessed by a parent, guardian or court appointed guardian ad litem.
Do I have to go to court?
In most cases, no.
Do I have to live in Florida to work with you?
No, you do not. We will work with other adoption professionals in your state to meet your needs. You may also relocate if you so desire.
What if I have other children in the custody of the Department of Children and Families? May they also be placed for adoption?
If your parental rights to the child have not been terminated, you may consent to the private placement of the child for adoption. You do not have to consent to the state taking your child.
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