Adopting a child is a very specific and important process that should handled by a duly licensed and reputable adoption agency rather than an adoption attorney. Adoption attorneys are a vital requirement in finalizing adoptions, even adoption agencies will refer you to a lawyer specializing in finalizing adoptions, but agencies are geared to the personal needs of both the person giving up the child and the one adopting the child. There are five keys that should be remembered when choosing whether to adopt through an agency or through an attorney.
Attorneys specialize, so do agencies. There are hundreds of types of attorneys, even those who specialize as adoption attorneys handle different types of cases, some work with the person giving up a child, others work with the family wanting to adopt, and while others straddle a very fine line in working with the person giving up the child and the family. Adoption agencies however, are just that, licensed professional social workers whose goal is to get families who want to adopt together with parents who are placing a child and work through all the procedures and challenges to come to a viable solution. Agencies, because they are serving a wide variety of individuals have health care professional on staff who can work through the home study visits, the legal concerns (except the final Court adoption), and the psychological concerns. Adoption lawyers are not trained social workers who handle these types of challenges, their focus is on the legalities.
Costs. It is expensive to adopt, unless you adopt a special needs child from the state, where you might be eligible for some type of state assistance. But agencies as well as lawyers all have fees and costs that are not only set by law, but which might include extended services. Usually an agency can tell you exactly how much the adoption will cost and any potential fees that might be higher than normal. However, it is almost impossible for a lawyer to know exactly how much time he will need to spend or what his expenses will be. Some attorneys have a set fee to cover certain parts of the process such as taking the matter to court, but in most adoptions handled by attorneys, the actual costs may be far greater than any estimate. In either case, it is vital to get costs in writing from either an agency or an attorney.
Counseling. Adoption attorneys are not counselors. Unless you can find an attorney who has his certification as a licensed clinical social worker, the attorney is not geared to meeting any counseling needs. He may refer you to a counselor, but those fees will be in addition to his legal fees. Adoption attorneys are not there to hold your hand through the adoption process, they are there to ensure the adoption is done in accordance to the laws of the international community or the state. Agencies, however, understand the vital importance of compassion, counseling and understanding needs that both the parent placing the child and the family adopting the child has. A licensed professional agency has Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW) and counseling social workers (SW) on staff and the counseling fee is included with the adoption. This service makes the adoption agency a much more compassionate partner in the process than an attorney.
Loving care. Adoption agencies care. Quality agencies care, not only about the adoption legalization process, but about the individuals involved. They care that the one giving up the child for adoption is given those legal financial helps she is entitled to, to the counseling to help overcome the sadness, after birth depression, or the guilt in allowing the baby or child to be adopted. Adoption agencies care about the new mother and father to be, about the family as a whole, about the joy and potential overwhelming feelings that can occur when the adoption is finalized. They understand how to help, when to help and when to get a doctor involved in the process. Adoption attorneys are not geared for loving care, they are there to ensure the legal process of the adoption. They are there to make sure each party knows their rights and responsibilities and that the adoption documents are filed correctly and legally with the courts.
Ensuring your best interests. Sometimes the adoption lawyer is the one who contacts you about the adoption. Perhaps he knows you've wanted to adopt, perhaps she understands your needs and problems, and perhaps he's a friend of the young woman who will be allowing her child to be adopted. Whatever, the reason, make sure that the adoption lawyer will look out for your best interests. Ask if she can have both parties' best interests at heart. It is a fine line to serve as the attorney for both sides of an issue. There is client confidentially issues, and conflict of interest issues. You need to be sure that any adoption agency is also looking out for your best interests. Are they giving you the total picture, are they advising the family giving up the child for adoption to ask for more money for living expenses because the adoption agency knows you can pay more? Make sure you feel comfortable about how the adoption process will proceed with the adoption agency. This conflict could be solved by a very simple declaration of service document, or something more extensive. But in either case, make sure your adoption agency or adoption attorney has your best interests at heart.
Hopefully, the information contained above is a good step toward making an adoption-articles-adoptionadvice.blogspot.com/2010/12/adoptionshould-i-use-adoption-agency.html adoption agency decision. It is important to study and learn as much as you can about both lawyers and premieradoption.org/adoptive-parents/faqs agencies, so please be careful.
As the grandmother of two adopted children and the aunt of one, I've been writing articles on a variety of subjects for over 30 years, but I love writing about adoption best of all.
No comments:
Post a Comment