Welcome to Carolina Adoptions. I write this blog to provide information to individuals and couples who are interested in adopting a child and for birth parents who want to find an adoptive home for their child.
Every adoption is different so some of the information you find here will apply to your situation and some will not. As the information on this site grows, you will be able to find information that applies to the adoption of infants, the adoption of children in foster care, and the adoption of step-children and other related children. You will find information that applies to both contested adoptions where one or more birth parents object to the termination of their parental rights and the adoption and to consensual adoptions where everyone agrees that the adoption is in the child’s best interest. You will also find information about assisted reproductive technology and the growing number of cases involving surrogate mothers and gestational carriers.
I hope you find this information helpful.
David M. Collins, Jr.
Attorney at Law
An adoption in South Carolina is a two-step process. The first stage of the process is the termination of the parental rights of the biological parents and any legal father of the minor child.
The second stage of the adoption is creating the legal relationship of parent and child between the adoptive parents and the minor child. Continue reading »
The South Carolina Court of Appeals recently decided a case involving the request of a child’s former Foster Parents to adopt the child. The Court of Appeals decided that the former Foster Parents did not have the right to ask to adopt the child after they voluntarily allowed the child to leave their home and be placed with another family for adoption. Continue reading »
In South Carolina there are 11 different grounds for terminating the parental rights of a biological or legal parent. The grounds for a TPR (the nickname for a court action to terminate a parent’s parental rights to a child) are set by statute. Before the Family Court can terminate a parent’s rights to their child, the court must find by “clear and convincing evidence” that at least one of the statutory grounds exists.
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The acronym TPR stands for “termination of parental rights.” Terminating the parental rights of the biological and legal parents of a child is the first step in the adoption process. This step is essential to the adoption process because the legal relationship between the child and its biological and legal parents must be ended before the new legal parent-child relationship can be formed between the child and the adoptive parents.
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Sometimes when we need to do an adoption, a birth parent is not located in the state of South Carolina. If the parent is living outside of South Carolina, but is willing to voluntarily relinquish their parental rights and consent to an adoption, we can still obtain a valid Consent and Relinquishment from them. Continue reading »
When professionals who work around adoptions talk about a Consent and Relinquishment they are talking about a document or documents which a birth parent signs to voluntarily relinquish his or her parental rights to a child and to consent to that child being adopted. Continue reading »
Some attorneys take a position that if a court order determines that an individual is the biological father of the child then no DNA test or John Doe is required. Other attorneys, myself included, take a more conservative approach and assume that until a DNA test confirms the biological relationship between a presumptive father and the child, a John Doe must always be given notice of the adoption proceedings.
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Sometimes a birth mother does not know who the biological father of the child is or it is uncertain whether the named father is in fact the biological father of the child. We cannot just assume that a man named by the mother as the father or the man who is named on the birth certificate is the actual biological father of the child. We have to take certain steps to attempt to determine with some certainty who is the biological father of the child.
In almost all cases those efforts are not treated as being successful unless we are able to obtain a genetic test (DNA test) confirming the biological relationship between the man and the child. If those efforts are unsuccessful and the identity of the biological father cannot be determined with some certainty then John Doe is used as the name for the unknown father. John Doe (or another generic name such as Richard Roe) is the name given to the unknown biological father of the child.