Chicago Illinois Adoption

Adoption can provide wonderful family relationships for children. Often, adoptions are some of the few cases enjoyed by judges who handle family law matters. Before adoption may take place, the petitioner must meet satisfactory requirements. Because the law presumes that a parent wants to maintain a relationship with the parent’s child, notice to the parents is required. If a parent has been involved in the life of a child and objects to adoption, is unlikely that the court will grant the adoption. On the other hand, if a parent has played no part in the life of the child or, worse, has engaged in conduct detrimental to the child, the judge is likely to grant the adoption. As with all issues involving children, the judge must make his or her decision based upon the best interests of the child.

In many instances, the adoptive family requires legal services in Illinois to assist them with a birthmother they have already identified.

In other instances, the adoptive family is in need of assistance with identifying a birthmother seeking to place her child for adoption.

We provide guidance, support and ongoing contact, including assistance with the preparation of the 'Dear Birthmother' letter, picture portfolio and the all-important ad which generates the leads in the first place. Once the calls start coming in, we field and screen those initial calls on your behalf. Once an appropriate referral is identified, we utilize the services of a local adoption agency to provide counseling to assist with living expenses and to provide support to all involved. Our staff is caring and genuinely concerned for all parties in the adoption process and is most concerned about everyone feeling as comfortable as possible in the often highly emotional area of adoption.

In related adoptions or recognition of foreign decrees, legal services are required to insure compliance with local laws.

Adoption policy in the United States is undergoing a great deal of public scrutiny. News reports in recent years have featured dramatic stories of conflict between biological and adoptive parents, raising questions about how to balance the rights of both families and about which policies further the best interests of the adopted child. These cases have helped clarify important legal and social questions surrounding adoption. Although adoption remains a hotly debated and legislated area of the law, most adoptions proceed through the legal system with little, if any, conflict. For many families, adoption is a perfect way for adults to provide love and care to a child whose biological parents are not able to do so.

Adoption law, like most family law, is state law; there is very little federal regulation of adoption. Each state has the authority to create adoption laws and to regulate adoption agencies. One major exception to this rule concerns adoption of a child from another country. The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) imposes regulations on such adoptions in addition to those imposed by the state; the adoptive parents must be United States citizens, for example. Adoption in Illinois is governed by the Illinois Adoption Act.

An agency placement of a child for adoption is one made through a private or public state-licensed adoption agency. An independent placement is one arranged between the adoptive and birth parents without assistance of an agency. In this situation, the parties have come together through other means--usually through mutual friends. Approximately two-thirds of all adoptions in the United States are arranged through agencies.

In Illinois, all agencies specializing in adoption must be licensed as child welfare agencies under the Illinois Child Care Act. A hospital that is not licensed as a child welfare agency, for example, may not legally facilitate adoptions. In order to adopt in Illinois from an agency in another state, the agency must be licensed in accordance with the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, or the agency must provide other means of showing it is a reputable organization that will take responsibility if the adoption fails.

Even with these regulations, however, not all licensed agencies are equal. Agencies differ in the services offered, adoptive clients served, geographic area served, fees charged, and age of child sought to be adopted. When dealing with an adoption agency, it is best to ask questions to determine whether the needs of the adoptive parents and the birth parents fit the services offered by the agency.