adoption laws in CA?

It's really hard to answer such a general question. Answers about laws also depend on what sort of adopton you do, agency or private or state. We did an agency adoption in CA, so I can only speak to those guidelines. It was a sixth month wait to finalize. Did you have other specifics you were hoping to find out?

we were told it would be 6 to 9 mo to finalize in cali. tho we ended up finalizing in FL so it didnt matter in the end. i know that there is a waiting period after the birth for the bp's to sign the relinquishments. i think it has to be 72 hours after the birth before they can sign, but not sure on that number. and they have up to 30 days after the birth to sign. tho we were told by our agency that in most of their adoptions, they are signed within 2 weeks. there are also laws about how and where ap's can network, so you have to be aware of those too. are you planning on a cali adoption only? if your bp's are in another state, things could be very different. all states vary on their laws. but if you open yourself up to other states, of course that opens up your options too. hope this helps!

It depends on the case. My sons bmom's rights were terminated in December of 2003 and our adoption won't be final until Nov. 18th. (WOW!!! Next month) There was alot going on with this case so I don't know if ours is a good example. Our home study was completed in August so maybe ours really didn't take that long. We are foster parents who are adopting our foster son.

As the above have stated it does depend on your circumstances. With our daughter and son (both private adoptions), both bfathers reliqueshed their rights before they came home. Both bmothers relinqueshed their rights the day they came home. 24 hours later their relinqueshements were final (meaning they could not change their minds). CA requires a 6month post placement time period. This period is strictly for the agency to report that the placement is a good match and that the child is growing and is happy, etc. (again, this is if the parents rights have been reliqueshed already) During those 6months we had a few social worker visits and then we went to court. It usually takes a couple of months after the 6month period to actually get a court date. CA does allow the bfather to sign before the child is born. CA also allows the bmother to sign as soon as she is medically discharged from the hospital. Our agency held the reliqueshments for 24 hours and then sent them up to Sacramento to be recorded.

A birthparent can sign anytime after birth, there is no thirty day limit. In our case it was nearly fifty days after birth and nearly forty-eight days after placement. "CA does allow the bfather to sign before the child is born." It all depends on how the birthfather is termed by the state, a presumed birthfather or an alledged birthfather. A presumed birthfather, a husband for instance who was in relationship with the woman within a certian time frame, can not sign before birth- his rights are the same as the birthmother's when it comes to relinquishing. An alledged birthfather, possibly a brief relationship or long term boyfriend, can waive his rights before birth and deny paternity- this isn't really the same as his signing relinquishments but in effect removes his right to parent. An alledged birthfather can choose to sign after birth, thus openly claiming his his paternity, and actively relinquishing his parental rights. This was the case in our adoption. Our child's birthfather did not want to deny he was this child's father in any way, and it was important to him that he be afforded the same process and respect given to the birthmother. In the case of an unknown birthfather, well someone else will have to address that. My undestanding is that the process by which an unknown birthfather's rights are terminated doesn't start until after birth. I may be wrong. If you can identify the type of adoption you are pursuing people can better answer your question about law.

An unknown birth father's rights have to be terminated in court after you have attempted to find him and notify him. That ususally means advertising for a certain time period. You file proof of the advertising along with a form discribing him and the sitatuion in which the child was concieved and if all you Is are dotted and Ts crossed the judge terminates his rights. The actual hearing takes all of about 45 seconds and you don't have to appear, it's all done with forms. lisa

Thanks to all of you for your words of advice. We are pursuing adoption in CA but are open to other states. I can't give you more specifics because we don't know them right now, but your own experiences have been helpful. When you are talking about bmoms signing, do you mean that they simply sign a document that is notarized or do they have to appear before a judge? Thanks- Amy

i cant speak about all states, but for our adoption in FL, our bmom met with the SW from the agency and signed the papers. never went before a judge. i have heard many accounts that were just like ours. some states require that the bmom come in a day before to read and understand the paperwork and then come back to sign the next. good luck!

The relinquishments are differnt if it is an independent of agency adoption. The papers can not be sigened either wy until 24 hours after the birth and 72 if it is c-section. Who witnesses the signature is the difference. In independent adptions it can be an Adoption Service provider who is a special SW that the A family hires to represent the birth family. If they take the signature it isnot irrevocable for 30 days. If the birth family goes to the county ofice of the Dept of Children and Family Services and signs it is irrevocable in 24 hours. The process is a little more complicated in that you have to call them and request an appoointment. They inturen have to set an appointment within 10 days. With some counties it can be immediate but other it could take the full ten days. I have also heard about some of the county SW counseling the birth parents not to sign at all. With an agency they can sign with the SW form the agency 24 hours after the birth and it CAN be irrevocable the next day but all relinquishments need to be signed by a judge. Sometimes it can take a few days to cross thta particualr judges desk. Again it depends on the county. In general figure it will be about ten days before it is irrevocable with agency adoption and 45 in independent. lisa

"With an agency they can sign with the SW form the agency 24 hours after the birth and it CAN be irrevocable the next day but all relinquishments need to be signed by a judge. Sometimes it can take a few days to cross thta particualr judges desk. Again it depends on the county. In general figure it will be about ten days before it is irrevocable with agency adoption and 45 in independent." Our agency experience in CA was sort of like this. The SW explains and witnesses the relinquishments, there also has to be another witness, in our case it was a friend of the birthmom. She could have then requested that the paperwork be held for anywhere from one to thirty days before being sent to the state for filing. Or she can request that it be filed immediately, that is what happened in our case. The day after the papers were signed they were sent to the state, (it was Monday) and by Friday of that week our agency received notice form the state that the papers were filed- making them irrevocable.