Tell me about TPR in PA

Well, my wife and I have been through this 3 times in the last 18 months and we live in PA. So, I'll tell you how ours worked and it will give you some idea of the process. First BM, we call her "Chastity"; she is the BM of our oldest adopted daughter. AR came to us at 26 months after Chastity was found to be negligent and a user of several drugs. Chastity looked like she could get her act together, but late in the process checked out of rehab and ended her attempt. So, at a 15 month review, the judge asked to get TPR in motion. Chastity was given the opportunity to self-TPR or to contest. The upside for the birth parents to self-TPR is that if they have another child CYS will not come into the hospital and take the child - they will allow the birth parent to keep the child while they monitor her. So, if the birth parents are going to have more children they will sometimes volunteer. Chastity did, so the TPR hearing was just to get her to sign the papers and 30 days later AR was able to have an adoption date. This is the easiest form. Our second mother, had three children taken but only one was placed with us. The other two went to two different homes. She is very low on the IQ scale and has mental health issues, so the state determined that the children would be best served by being adopted. our BM and the BF were planning to fight the whole way. In the months of waiting, however, she got pregnant again and her lawyer advised them to sign over the kids in custody and get out of the state if she wanted any chance of keeping a child. So, in spite of planning to fight, at the 11th hour, they signed and we had another easy TPR. Our last BM, "Moonbeam" told us from the first day she would appeal to the supreme court if necessary. For her, it was mostly about fighting the system, not getting her daughter back. She flunked every drug test they gave her and openly admitted to being homeless and without a job. So, her TPR is kind of a longest case. Step 1: initial TPR hearing. Everyone shows up and all the judge asks is if the birth parents are contesting. If not, they sign papers and the deed is done. If they do contest, a trial date is set. They don't do anything until that next court date so you have a few months of waiting. Moonbeam overslept on her hearing day, however and missed her chance to contest. If you don't show, they rule against you. F0r us this was August 2008. Step 2: TPR hearing (which we got to skip since Moonbeam missed step 1). After one or more days of testimony, a judge will issue his decree. Step 3: Appeal the Court of Common pleas decision to the State Appellate court. This is potentially a two part decision. First they rule if they will hear your case, then if they do, there is a review of the records. They don't actually take more testimony. Moonbeam got a bench review, but her case was denied . This took until March 2009 to happen. Step 4: Superior Court. Moonbeam's lawyer asked the state Superior Court to hear and appeal, and I believe this is also a two part item: first, will they entertain an appeal, then the appeal itself. Moonbeam got shot down at part one. This took another 6 weeks - mid May 2009. Step 5: Supreme Court is the last option. Moonbeam did not take it that far. Keep in mind that Moonbeam was a cut and dry case. She was a self admitted user of all types of drugs, had an arrest record, refused to do any of the parenting classes or training, flunked 35+ drug tests in the 20 months of visitation and had no housing or job. It still took ten months to get through and that's only because she overslept. It would have been another 3-4 months if she would have made the first hearing. So, be prepared for more than a year.