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There are a lot of laws involving adoption. While you may not be a legal expert, you can still read up a little bit on the adoption laws in order to be prepared for what is up coming as well as to protect yourself. There are no federally mandated adoption laws. The laws differ from state to state.
There are laws that dictate when you can sign papers terminating your parental rights. Some states require you to wait a certain amount of time after the birth of your baby before you can sign relinquishment papers. For example, in Arizona you can not sign until 72 hours after the birth of the baby.
There are laws that dictate where you can sign the relinquishment papers. Some states, like mine of South Carolina, allow you to sign in the hospital (which I think is not a good idea!)and then have a notary public notarize the papers and be a witness to the signing, while other states may require a court appearance.
There are laws that state how long you have to change your mind and re-claim your child after signing the relinquishment papers. In my state of South Carolina, consent “is irrevocable immediately unless birth parent can prove consent was involuntary and withdrawing consent is in the child’s best interest.” In other states however, you have a short time frame to change your mind. In Georgia for example, you have 10 days to change your mind, while in Delaware you have 14 days.
There are also laws that state how much and what type of living or medical expenses could be paid for by an adoptive family. For example, in Rhode Island adoptive parents can pay for the medical expenses of the expectant mother.
For more information on adoption laws, check out the links below.
Consent to Adopt
Adoption Laws
Consent to Adopt Statutes
Examples in this post, used from here.
