What To Consider Before Adopting A Child In Salt Lake City

What to Consider Before Adopting A Child In Salt Lake City

Making the decision to bring a child into your life through adoption is a wonderful and generous thing to do. However, like any decision, it is important to understand what you are getting yourself into by deciding to undertake an adoption in Salt Lake City. Anyone who is considering adoption should seek child adoption help in Salt Lake City from a family law attorney. Below are a few important things to consider before adopting a child in Salt Lake City.

Consider hiring a child adoption lawyer. There are many situations during the adoption process that could require legal involvement or legal consequences. As such, it is a good idea to work with an experienced child adoption lawyer. Problems could arise with the relinquishment of the child’s birth parents’ parental rights, or a birth father could object to the adoption. In both cases, experienced legal counsel can offer you guidance on how to proceed. Additionally, a lawyer is required to finalize the adoption.
Decide how open or closed you want the adoption to be. Adoptive parents can choose how open or closed adoption will be. You need to think critically about whether you want your adopted child to have contact with his or her birth parents or not.
Decide whether to find a birth mother on your own or through a service. In Utah, only licensed agencies can be paid for pairing an adoptive parent with a birth mother. As such, you can either find a birth mother on your own (through friends, family members, coworkers, etc.), or you can hire a matching service. You may already have a birth mother in mind, or you might need help finding or meeting her. Do whatever makes you comfortable.
Consider whether you are going to pay for the birth parent’s adoption-related expenses. Adoptive parents often offer to pay for the birth parent’s adoption-related expenses as an act of charity, and these expenses are often paid through a lawyer. Typical expenses that adoptive parents frequently choose to pick up the tab for include prenatal expenses, expenses associated with counseling for the birth parents, travel costs, some living expenses during the pregnancy and during recovery after the birth, etc. These paid expenses are reported to the court when the adoption is finalized.
Special considerations for unusual adoptions. If the child to be adopted is born in a different state, or if the child is a member of an Indian tribe or is eligible to be a member of an Indian tribe, then your adoption may involve additional steps, approvals or compliance with different adoption laws other than Utah adoption laws.

Choosing to adopt is a big decision, and your decision should be well-thought-out. While adoptions don’t always go according to plan, and some fall through, those that are successful are heartwarming and enriching for everyone involved. If you need family law help, you should contact Salt Lake City adoption lawyer Jill L. Coil at the law firm of CoilLaw, LLC at 801-876-5837.