What are my chances of custody of my cousins baby?

Question

Me and my Boyfriend have been together for 7 years and on march 11 we got a call from my cousin and she told us she was haing a baby but she was going to put the baby up for adoption then she asked us to come down ad see her so we did.

Then i was telling her how we were trying to concive for over 2 years now and we were thinking of adoption and then she asked us if we would take her baby because she could not take care of it and her boyfriend was always saying he wonts the baby then he dont wont the baby he is vary abusive and he takes drugs she said and he has a son alredy that he cant pay childsaport for now so we talked it over and said yes we were all happy that we were going to be a mom and a dad then i got a call today that she had the baby yesterday and CAS was at the hospital because she and her hubby were not aloud to take that baby at all i found out that she is metadone and he is on all kinds of other drugs to so they said they wonted to keep the baby but the CAS wont them.

Answer 1

wow long story how bout you getting married would that help

this is nt meant as an insult, just wondering if the authorities would be more likel to look at your request seriously and get a positive outcome for you.Hope for the best for you,marriage is not that bad either,since you are already basically in that way anyway. but I am not judging just suggesting as an option

Answer 2

Please learn how to use punctuation, you know, like periods and commas, your run-on sentences are too hard to read.

Answer 3

If the birth father is on drugs, does not have a job and lacks parenting skills the state will place the child in another home.  If you are family and the birth mother request the child to be placed with you then most likely the child will go to you.  The state usually tries to place the child with the family if going through Child Services (State).

Now if you are trying to adopt the child and the mother has signed over paperwork, you can not adopt the child unless the birth father consents or rights are terminated.

Honestly, you should try and take custody of the child until the mother and father can get their life together.  Give them 12 months and if they do not make an effort then go for full custody/adoption.

Answer 4

I gave an answer on your other question. But I will add here that the State will always try to find relatives before placing children with non family members.

You need to learn the language--who to contact and what the process is. The father will have to do the same thing you are expected to do.

If you are not married then the state will decide how to handle that issue. They will want background checks on all adults who will live in the same house hold. They will want the baby to have a place to sleep and an adult who is able to meet their needs and understand the implications of prenatal exposuer.

If the father follows his plan and meets all of his requirements with consistancy and dedication then it will show. He will get clean and sober, pee in a cup every week, find a job--housing and the things the child will need. If he can do it then that should be a blessing any of us would be thrilled to see!

If not then--the people who are biologically related are the first choice. Just as it is important that we all Hope one or both of the parents would do what it takes for their child--we still want the biological family to be the next logical choice.

It all just boils down to doing the steps and by the time the steps are done the state usually makes a decision. The goal is to get the children into a stable home as early as possible to avoid disruption. The more serious you are and the more active you are about taking the steps the greater you will be seen as a good choice for the baby to be placed.

I wrote more on the other Question too.