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Adoption
An adoption is the taking of a child into one's family and creating a traditional and binding parent-child relationship. The child is given all the rights as if he or she was born naturally to the adopting parents, and the adopting parents are tasked with all the responsibilities inherent in raising a natural child. An important goal in an adoption is to create a permanent adoption that cannot be challenged in the future.
Any qualified single person may adopt and married couples may adopt a child together. Related children, including stepchildren, grandchildren nephews or nieces may be adopted, as well as unrelated children. In a stepparent adoption, the natural parent and the stepparent both have to sign the petition to adopt. The most common adoptions in Southern Illinois are related adoptions.
The Illinois adoption procedure varies depending on the relationship or status of the child to the adopting parent or parents. A petition to adopt is filed by the intended adoptive parents and must comply with Illinois' Adoption Act requirements. The child's natural parents, if appropriate and identifiable, are listed as parties in the petition. Only the natural parent whose parental rights are sought to be terminated needs be a named adverse party.
If the natural parent plans to consent to the adoption of his or her child, they must sign a consent in court and before a judge. Consenting to the termination of parental rights is not a decision to be taken lightly, and fully informed consent must be properly witnessed.
If the natural parent does not consent to the adoption, the adopting parents may petition for the involuntary termination of parental rights. There must then be a showing that the parent is "unfit". If a birth parent has abandoned a child, or not supported the child, or done certain other things, that evidence will lend itself to a finding that the parent is "unfit". It does not matter if the birth parents are, or were ever married, and it does not matter if a natural father is named on the birth certificate. If the court makes a finding of unfitness, the court then considers whether it is in the best interest of the child that parental rights be terminated.
Once the parental rights of the parent have been terminated, either through a consent or an involuntary termination, the court appoints the prospective adopting parents as temporary custodians of the child until it is determined that it is in the best interests of the child that the prospective adopting parents be granted the adoption.
To aid the court in its decision whether the adoption is in the best interests of the child, a Guardian Ad Litem is appointed. This is usually a local attorney who will act as the court's objective counsel and make a recommendation to the court as to the future parents' suitability to adoption, their relationship status, their home situation, and their health, and their relationship with the child. Once the GAL has prepared a report, a final hearing before a judge may be had.
The entire procedure can easily take six(6) or more months. The length of time varies according to the type of adoption, the cooperation of the parents whose rights are sought to be terminated, the investigation of the Guardian Ad Litem, the court's schedule, the uniqueness of each adoption and your attorney's preparation of documents and orchestration of all of the above.
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