Is there anything grandparents can do if they don't want their grandchild put up for adoption?

Question

My aunt doesn't want her daughter whose 20 and married to give her baby up for adoption! Is there anything she can do under the Arkansas grandparents law or anything else?

Answer 1

Why does she not just adopt the baby for her own?  Tell her to see her attorney to see if this would be possible.

Answer 2

She can apply for custody or contest custody of the adoption.  Grandparents usually do have rights.  She should contact her local social services department.

Answer 3

Find out when the court hearings are and show up, showing interest in adopting the baby.  (If this is a state case).  Make some phone calls to the state or contact your lawyer and he/ she will point you in the right direction.  You could even let the young lady know that you would like to adopt and to let you know when the proceedings start so that you will be the first one considered.

Answer 4

http://iaatp.com/docs/Arkansas%20FAQ.pdf

#13 states the adoption laws for grandparents.  hope this helps.  best of luck to you.

Answer 5

She can apply to adopt the baby. Or she could talk to her daughter and ask her to legally sign custody over to your Aunt. But she has to get both parents to give up their rights.

Answer 6

I realize the whole situation is hard, but honestly the grandparents feelings are probably third on the list of priorities. First, the babies, second, the mothers (and fathers) and third, the grandparents. I know grandparents have experience raising children and can show love, but then the child has old parents, not that this is completely bad, but there is a reason that there is an upper age limit to international adoptions. Also, then you confuse the child at family gatherings.. ok, so that's my mom by i live with her parents? My in laws have family members children who lived with other family members and they are still confused into their 20s who they should spend christmas morning w/ and just don't feel as though they totally belong in any one place.  Also, the mother's feelings.. if I were 20 and wanted to make an adoption plan for my child, it would not be to live with my parents.. I still need my parents to be my parents and not my child's parents.  So even though I know the grandparents think they are doing something loving, it sounds more selfish to me. Most likely the adopting family will be a loving two parent home where the child will have the opportunity to feel as though they were a biological child and not always be reminded that they are adopted. That sounds like a better situation for the child and the mother.  Sorry if I'm sounding mean and insenstive.  :-(

Answer 7

Arkansas laws do not give any rights to the grandparents to prevent their grandchild from getting put up for adoption. The decision is really up to the parents of the child in this case. The only way that i know of that they would be able to stop the couple from california from adopting their grandchild is to prove their daughter is not of sound mind and get custody of the child after birth and I doubt that they would want to do that.

Answer 8

There is not much she can do unless her daughter agrees to allowing her mother to adopt the baby. If not then she is just out of luck.  It’s the biological parent’s decision to do with their baby what they want. If they want to place the child for adoption outside the family. Grandma can hiss and through as many fits as she wants but it wouldn’t give her any authority on what happens to the baby.

Answer 9

She can file for custody and have a hearing to be allowed to raise the child herself. hope this helps!! good luck!!

Answer 10

In the majority of states, grandparents DO NOT have any rights.  She can try and convince her daughter to legally sign the child over to her.  She may be able to speak to an attorney who specializes in adoptions about an injunction for immediate custody once the child is born.  This may cause some issues if she goes this route without speaking to her daughter.  She could also speak to her daughter’s boyfriend to see if he is opposed to having her adopt the child, because she can’t legally adopt the child out without the father’s consent.

Answer 11

All she can do is to try to go through the homestudy licensing process to be eligible to adopt the child should the daughter approve of the aunt adopting her.

However, it is solely in the hands of the birth mother, so if the aunt says no, whoever she places the child with will say no, as well.

It's unfortunate for the grandparents...but they have no say in the situation for the most part.