The first step in any adoption process is the termination of the parental rights of the birth parents. This can be accomplished in one of two different ways. First, the birth parents can voluntarily surrender their parental rights. Second, if the parents are not willing to …show more content…
During this period of time, a home study is undertaken. The home study is a basic analysis to ascertain whether or not an individual or couple seeking to adopt a child is appropriate to become a parent. The home study consists of an actual consideration of the residential environment itself, the individual's or couple's work history and so forth.
Following approval through the home study process, oftentimes the child that is the subject of the proposed adoption can be placed in the potential parents' home.
A petition is filed with the court seeking approval for the proposed adoption. The written home study will be filed with the court at this juncture as well. The home study really is a crucial element of the overall court case pertaining to the adoption itself.
The court will schedule a hearing within a specified period of time to consider all of the evidence relating to the adoption itself. Providing that everything is in order, the court will approve the adoption.
You need to understand that when an adoption is approved, it is permanent. There is no going back. When the court issues an order approving an adoption, the child becomes fully and completely the child of the adoptive parents as if that child was the biological offspring of the adoptive