Adoption options

From my weekly (AM) radio segment titled "Legal Minute"

Adoption is the legal process that permanently gives parental rights to adoptive parents. Foster children are those who are in the child welfare system because the birth parents’ rights to these children have been terminated by court order. There are three ways to adopt children: agency, independent and inter-country adoptions. Licensed public or private adoption agencies are responsible for finding adoptive homes for the children in their care and they do so through their agency’s adoption process. Independent adoptions allow the birth parents to choose the adoptive parents and place the child up for adoption after signing a consent form which becomes irrevocable in thirty days. Inter-country adoptions allow prospective parents to adopt foreign born children for whom Federal law makes a special immigration visa available. Inter-country adoptions are completed in the child’s native country or in California. The adoption process requires paperwork, a family assessment, fees and much patience but is well worth the effort. Visit the Children and Family Services Division of the California government website for more information.