What Are My Legal Rights In Adoption?
Although we would encourage you to be fully informed about your legal rights before your child is born, you can't sign any legal documents until after the baby's birth. At that time, if you still want to move forward with your adoption plan, arrangements will be made for you to sign the legal papers.
There are many preliminary steps you might take to help you decide if making an adoption plan is right for you and your baby. You may talk with an agency staff member, review profiles and/or talk with prospective adoptive families, provide a medical release in order to allow the agency to obtain your pre-natal records, provide medical, social, and family history and/or receive counseling on how to deal with your pregnancy.
None of these beginning steps obligates you to make an adoption plan for your child.
Before signing any legal documents finalizing an adoption plan for your child, you will receive the following confidential services, at no cost to you:
- Options and supportive counseling by qualified professionals.
- Legal representation to ensure that you understand your legal rights before you sign the adoption papers.
- An assessment of the biological father's rights and whether he must receive notice of the adoption and/or consent to it, so that the adoption can be secure for you and your child.
- Contact with birth parents for support.
- Profiles of prospective adoptive families, whose backgrounds have been carefully assessed and whose emotional and financial stability has been thoroughly reviewed.
- If you don't have private medical insurance or Medicaid coverage, referrals to state/federal organizations in order for you to apply for programs that will provide you with the medical coverage that you need.
- Financial assistance for legally-allowable pregnancy and birth-related expenses including medical bills (if you are not eligible for state/federal assistance).
- Knowledge that, if your baby is not born healthy, you will receive support from FIA, twenty-four hours a day, and a family for your child who is ready, willing, and capable of parenting a health-impaired or special needs child.
- Knowledge that FIA is creating families forever and that you, as an important part of FIA's forever family, have our commitment to be here for you forever.
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