Can a state adoption be revoked or the children returned to birth mother after several yrs have gone by??

Question

My children were taken from me in 2001,due to violence against me by their dad,but I am no longer with him and gotten back on my feet now,i miss them horribly after being promised an open adoption by caseworkers I've not had contact,pictures or anything now since 2001,so if sumone has answer to this question for me,i'd love to hear from you :)

Answer 1

Why did you sign away your rights? Which you wouldv'e had to do for adoption to occur....Or did you just sign temporary custody to state.  YOu need an attorney now.  

If you signed custody away and children were adopted you probably will not be able to get them back.Lots of circumstances and issues involved here.  Also, they are probably settled (if adopted) by now. Why disrupt? I understand your children, but look at it from anoither view.  

If they are in foster care and you can prove you are on your feet, etc. you probably can get them.

Good luck and I will pray for you

Answer 2

There were other reasons I'm sure for the children to be removed from your home. The question I have if they were removed because of violence by their dad on you, why weren't they not put in a foster home until you corrected the problems.You sign the papers for them to be adopted and placed in a good home, don't destroy their lifes now after over 6 years because you now miss them horribly. You will not only destroy their lifes, but that of the adoptive parents who have be taking care of their needs and wants.

You didn't give the ages of the children, but maybe you need to pray that the day comes they look for you, and not that you came into their lifes again only to destroy their dreams.

Sorry, but after that many years you really weren't ready to be responsible to your children before this, now you have found a need to have them back in your life

Answer 3

All you can do is go to court and demand that you receive what you were promised by the open adoption.  Some states are now starting to finally enforce this, but the adoption will not be revoked because contact hasn't occurred.  You cannot revoke the adoption unless you can prove fraud.

Answer 4

If your rights were terminated then no. I would contact your social worker and explain how you feel and ask her to contact who adopted your children and maybe she will send you some pictures. After children have been adopted it is hard to get that over turned.

Answer 5

once your rights were severed it is permant.  In state adoption the adoptive parents are expected to keep some contact with the birth family but it is not law and nothing can happen to them if they don't

Answer 6

my family are going through similar situation at the moment,but hasnt got to the adoption stage as yet,i hadnt seen my neices and nephews for almost a year until last night when i was invited to their christmas party,to see them was amazing ,but very emoyional,when we were saying goodbuy,im hoping to get more contact from now

sorry i cant answer your question but just wanted to share my experience with you,i hope you get your kids back,soon

good luck

Answer 7

NOPE. Once  you have signed your rights away so they can be adooted then its done. Sorry. Maybe you can see if you can find the family that adopted them and see if they will send you pics but that is about it. Our bio mom try to take our daughter away a few months after she was born and the lawyer said sorry once the papers are singed not getting the child back. Not being rude just saying you cant.

Answer 8

If the adoption has been finalized, unfortunately, I don't think there is anything that can be done.  But you may want to contact an attorney to investigate it further.

However, if the children are in the foster care system, it is possible that they could be returned to you.  Foster care programs are "supposed" to try to keep the biological family intact if possible.  However, there are often things, like the violence you refer to, that make that impossible.  In those cases, children are placed for adoption after the parental rights are terminated.  

I would recommend speaking to a family law attorney or your caseworker with the state.

Answer 9

Why did the state put them up for adoption?  You can have your children taken and put in another family members custody for the time being.  To answer your question though, I would definitely consult a lawyer, you will need one to get your kiddos back...second, if you  can PROVE that you are better and can financially support yourself and the kids, you can fight to get them back, BIG THING, if you signed a contract stating that it would be an OPEN adoption, you do have a legal right to trial as that family is in breach of contract.  However if the kids are old enough and choose, they can decide that they do not want to see you or be a part of your life and you can't do anything about it.  That sucks but I know people it's happened too.  I believe it's 13.

Answer 10

Children are seperate beings from their parents, not personal belongings. A birth "parent" is an egg or a sperm donor, not a parent. A parent is the person that nurtures and provides ALL THE TIME. You got your life together great, you should have had it together before giving birth (that includes choosing wisely who you have children with). My son is adopted, and he is my son. He was from the egg and sperm of another couple, but their problems did not allow them to provide parental support and that is no longer their right. 2001 is 6 years ago, these biological children are another couple's children now. If the children want to see you when they are old enough to understand that is something to be decided. I know if my son's egg and sperm donors were messed up, unstable persons (you claim you are not now but who really knows) I would not want them in his life s******g up the stability I have given him. Don't be selfish and think of yourself, think of these children and what your sudden appearance might do to them.

Answer 11

I'm sorry to say that if they HAVE in fact been adopted the adoptive parents now have all rights and would have to have their parental rights taken away in order for them to even go back to the state. If the state removed your rights, then they are in the custody of the state. I have been in your situation-the violence-and the state does nto remove the children entirely unless you refused to leave in order to protect them. The first step would have been to offer you ALL safe haven. There's more to the story I think.

Answer 12

You had to have signed away your rights for them to be adopted. It doesn't matter that your caseworker promised you an open adoption- if it wasn't filed as such or in writing- that's it, they're gone. It would be very unfair at this point for you to contact them. I am suspecting that they weren't taken for 1 act of violence against you from their father. I'm guessing that this was an ongoing abusive situation- at which point they had every right to take them. I realize you miss them but you're just opening up a can of worms. To try to get back into their lives now would be very traumatic & could mess up everything their adoptive parents have worked for. If they wanted to contact you then they've had ample opportunity. My advice is that you can try to get info when they are 18 but any sooner & you're risking no relationship the rest of their lives.

I don't think that you have any legal rights to these children but you can always check on it with a lawyer. They couldn't have been adopted if you'd followed all of the State's requirements to get them back. The State must have found you unfit & unwilling to leave their abusive father & stripped you of your rights. Good luck!

Answer 13

Oh yes, I'm sure it was all HIS fault!!!

Guess what, babe?  Courts don't take kids away from a parent because the parent is being abused.  Don't worry about filling in the lines of the story that you didn't tell.  Presumably some sort of drug abuse or other irresponsible behavior was involved.

The bottom line is that for whatever reason, your parental rights were terminated and you didn't followup on your kids' adoption for SIX YEARS!!!

All you have to do is call the adopting agency to follow up on pictures and letters you were promised...you are lying if you say the loss of contact with your children is not your fault.  Frankly, I'll bet they actually have pictures and letters waiting for you that you never picked up or provided a forwarding address for...then the parents probably stopped bothering with them when it became apparent after a few years that the kid's birth mother didn't care about them.

To want to take your children away from their rightful parents after SIX YEARS is one of the most entirely selfish and HATEFUL things I can imagine a person doing to someone else.  Your only concern should be for contact and learning what has become of your kids...not to ruin the lives that their adoptive parents have created for them.

Answer 14

If your children were adopted out, then your parental rights were terminated.  Which means you can not have anything to do with your children until they are 18 and come looking for you.  If you try to find these children yourself and interfere in their new lives, you could possibly find yourself on the wrong side of the law and end up in jail.  You should be applauded for getting your life in order, but it sounds like it happened too late to do anything about your children.

Answer 15

Apparently, both of the children's parents signed away the rights of the children.  Now, after 6 years of them being in a loving and caring environment with adoptive parents you think it would be a good thing to totally disrupt this for them?

I think the thought is cruel and unloving on your part.

Just let the children live in the loving home they now have.  You can try contacting them when they are no longer minors to see if they want a relationship with you.

Answer 16

You say your children were taken so were your rights terminated by the state? Or were the children put in foster care and you later signed your rights over?  I just have a hard time believing that your children were taken solely on the fact you had an abusive husband. I could understand if you refused to leave and the children were thus in danger. But if you had left him and were getting your life back on track, I’d think your children would have been put in temporary foster care.

If your children were legally adopted, meaning the adoption was done right. You signed your rights over or had them terminated by the state. I assume your husband were probably terminated.  Then no you can’t get them back years later. Even if you were promised an open adoption most states do not enforce them. If you adopted in a state where it is enforced it would have had to have been in writing. The verbal word of your social worker would not qualify. Plus if your rights were terminated by the state I doubt an open adoption would have been an option for you.  

I would not listen to these people telling you to get an attorney. If it’s a legal adoption he would not be able to do anything for you. What you might do is try and get a letter to the people who adopted the children maybe they will find heart and send  you some pictures.  How old were your children when they were taken away if they were really young  I am sorry to say they probably barely remember you. It would be beyond cruel to rip them from the family that has cared and raised them for 6 years, not to mention if they don’t even remember living with you, in their minds they’d be being given to a stranger.

Answer 17

get an attorney. No one should be without their kids.