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What Happens to the Baby during the Adoption Process?

Q.:  How long does it take to have an adoption completed after the child’s birth?

A.:  A legal placement of the child cannot take place until 72 hours after the birth of the child.  The placement hearing usually takes 30 to 45 minutes.  The child may wait in the hospital during that 72 hours or the birth mother may arrange for an early release with the prospective adoptive parents.  Foster care is usually a last resort.

Q.:  What happens if the baby is born with birth defects and the adoptive parents change their mind?

A.:  Birth parents should discuss this possibility and come to some agreement with the prospective adoptive parents before the baby is born.  If the adoptive parents change their minds, the birth mother should have an alternative plan or perhaps a back-up adoptive couple.  The birth mother is responsible until she can find an adoptive couple.  In some cases, an agency may take over and keep the baby until a couple can be found.  If the baby dies, the birth parent would be responsible for the baby’s expenses and for decisions about medical treatment and life support issues before adoption is finalized.

Q.:  Why do some babies go into foster care before they go to adoptive parents?

A.:  Some babies got into foster care because birth parents need more time to think about their decision.  Sometimes adoption agencies place babies into foster care so that they can have more time to terminate birth parents’ rights. 

Q.:  If the child were to go into foster care, how long would he or she be there?

A.:  When a private attorney handles the adoption, the child usually does not go into foster care unless the birth parent wishes.  Generally, with attorney-handled adoptions, the child is placed as soon as possible after 72 hours have passed.  Agencies are also eager to place the child as soon as possible, but may require more time to  terminate the birth parents’ rights.  Some agency adoptions may take 30 to 45 days.  If there is no alternative, the child may be placed in foster care for that length of time until the child can be placed with adoptive parents.

Q.:  If the child’s adoptive parents are suddenly killed not long after the child is placed but before the adoption has been finalized, who would be responsible for raising the child? 

A.:  If the adoption has not been finalized, the birth parents may be contacted and offered the option of parenting the child, but the birth parents are not obligated to do so.  When a birth parent places a child with an agency, the agency “holds title” to the child until an adoption is finalized.  If the adoptive couple is suddenly killed before the adoption is finalized, the agency may simply choose another adoptive couple to care for the child.  The agency does not have to consult with or get the birth parents’ permission again. 

If the adoption has been finalized before the adoptive parents are killed, then, in the eyes of the law, the child would be treated as any other child whose parents have died, and would be cared for according to the wishes of the adoptive parents as set down in a Will.  If there is no Will, any adult family member or relative could become the guardian of the child.

Law You Can Use is a weekly consumer legal information column provided as a public service of the Ohio State Bar Association and the Ohio State Bar Foundation.  This article was prepared by Thomas N. Taneff, a Columbus  attorney who concentrates on adoption law and has served on the Ohio Adoption Commission. 

Articles appearing in this column are intended to provide broad, general information about the law.  Before applying this information to a specific legal problem, readers are urged to seek advice from an attorney.