What are the legal requirements to adopt?

Question

What are the legal requirements to adopt?

Answer 1

Legal requirements?  It's more of an issue of can you afford it and do you have the patience to get through all the paperwork....especiallly with international adoption.  You'll need the help of an adoption attorney.  Most agencies have ones on their staff or ones they have a relationship with.  You'll need a homestudy from a state approved agency, a good job or source of income to raise the child.  Unless you are talking about private open adoption with a parent who doesn't care, you will need to have a clean police record and no history of any mental health issues.  

Your homestudy agency will try to illustrate how wonderful your home is to raise a kid in.  In some cases, you sign affidavits saying you will not use corporal punishment and that you will teach the child about their culture.  Domestic adoption is tons easier than international, but the birth mother has also tons more rights and can appeal the adoption and potentially get her child back down the road.  It doesn't happen often, but American courts favor maintaining the biological connection and give formerly troubled Mom's lots of breaks.  If you have the money, for irreversibility of the adoption, you may want to go international.  

Some countries, such as China have pretty strict requirements (ie, you have to be a certain weight, a certain age, have virtually no health problems, be married a certain length of time, can't be a homosexual, etc...)  Russia and Ukraine are notorious for changing the rules on you, making people jump through hoops and you have to travel their twice to bring your kid home.  China and Taiwan are one time deals, get in-get out, but the waits for children are now 2-3 years (in China, Taiwan, about a year).  Latin America can be easier I've heard, but always check with the INS website, cause sometimes, d/t volitile internal politics, they don't recommend Americans travel to those areas.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

It depends on what state you live in, but to do this you need a family lawyer. You can usually get that kind of information at no cost on your first consult. If you decide to go ahead with that lawyer you'll will have to pay a retainer of at least $2,000. And depending on how complicated the adoption is you'll have to pay more.

Answer 4

you must be of the Human persuasion, I think.

Answer 5

My youngest sister is adopted.  You have to have a homestudy, and they see how livable your home is, and how suitable it is for a child.  

Also overseas, as my sister is from Russia, you have to have to meet their country requirements.

Also not a bad idea to have a lawyer.

Answer 6

requirements?  come up with $35-50K.  you'll be set.

Answer 7

I believe it depends where your adopting from.  If you adopt from overseas it's really expensive and theres way more red tape.  That's because you have two governments to go through. Your also required to fly to the country your  trying to adopt from at least twice,  once to meet the child and once to take him/her home.  It's easier and cheaper to adopt within your own country and cheaper still to adopt wards of the state.  However the children available for adoption from the go'vt usually were taken from their parents because of abuse.  So unless your prepared and able to give them the special care they need and deserve then don't go that route.   Regardless of where you adopt your child from you'll have to go through a background check,  home study, and courses.

Answer 8

Every adoptive family must have a homestudy done in order to get "approval" to adopt.  This involves lots of things: proof of financial stability, proof of a safe and stable home enviornment, autobiographies, letters of reference, physical examinations, background checks, etc.  It's a pretty involved process!

If you choose to adopt overseas, you must also meet the requirements of whatever country you are adopting from as well as Federal immigration requirements.

Good luck!

Answer 9

you have to be very rich...like brad and angelina