The emphasis at this year's 10th annual Second Empire 5K Classic in Raleigh on May 2 was on fun, fitness and fundraising, as organizers used the event as a platform to raise awareness of adoption in North Carolina. The race was combined with an expo featuring various state-based adoption agencies and supporting organizations, the central goal being to educate and provide community support to adoptive and birth families, as well as to would-be parents.
Adoption experts laud that delivery of clear and accurate information. While they routinely cite the celebratory and life-affirming aspects of adoption, they just as often point to the many - and arguably complex - steps involved in the process in North Carolina.
Specifically, what are those steps?
The Governing Law
State statutory law governs adoption in North Carolina, with Chapter 48 of the General Statutes stating at the outset that "it is in the public interest to establish a clear judicial process for adoptions." Pursuant to that law, adoptions proceed in the following manner.
First: It Truly is About Education
Prospective parents have considerable leeway in the process, which means that they have a great deal to think about. A preliminary consideration is whether to adopt privately or through an agency.
A private, or independent, adoption avoids the necessity of agency involvement, with would-be parents working directly with the birth mother or an intermediary, usually an experienced adoption attorney. Although a lawyer is not legally required, most couples in a private placement prefer the counsel of an attorney, given the extensive documentation in the Petition for Adoption filing mandated by statute as a prerequisite to legalizing the adoption.
With agency adoptions, the primary distinction is between public and private agencies. The fundamental differences centrally include the following:
Public-agency adoption
- Proceeds through an official state organ, with each county in the state having a Division of Social Services that handles adoption services
- Applicants pay no fees, public agencies being supported by tax dollars
- Agencies place children who are in the foster care system owing to reasons such as abuse or abandonment into adoptive families
Private-agency adoption
- Can be either non-profit or for-profit, most typically being a charity or social organization with a particular focus, such as religious preference
- Children are not state wards and have no involvement with the foster care system
- Children are commonly brought to the agency by parents who already have or are expecting a child that they would like to place for adopted
A Further Consideration: Open or Closed Adoption
Following the selection of a private or agency placement, prospective parents need to focus on the open-versus-closed question. It is easily posed: How much information and detail will the child know growing up and throughout life about his or her birth mother?
The answer to this question is important in every adoption. To illustrate, an open adoption provides for more ready access to family medical history and can expedite future contacts with the birth mother if that is what the child seeks at some point. Conversely, it increases the potential for ongoing birth-parent interference or unwanted contacts in the future, and can create strain within the adoptive family.
There is no requirement that this be all-or-nothing. Although some families choose a completely open or closed adoption, many opt for a compromise that allows for some agreed-upon level of communication and access to medical history.
State Scrutiny of the Adoptive Parents: The Home Study
This is generally not as ominous as it might sound and, indeed, this "preplacement assessment" following an adoption application also serves as an opportunity for the prospective parents to ask questions and gain valuable knowledge about adoption.
Home study is far from unique to North Carolina. In fact, it is required in every state in the country, with an agency or licensed social worker examining various aspects of the home and submitting a recommendation regarding suitability to a court, which has final approval authority. Factors considered include:
- Marital and financial stability
- Other children
- Lifestyle characteristics
- Health matters
- Any criminal record (not necessarily fatal to an application)
The Final Stretch: Living with Your Child and Legalizing the Adoption
North Carolina law further requires, after completion of a home study, a supervisory period during which a child lives with the adoptive parents for a period of time before adoption can be finalized.
The legal process for adoption after such period works like this. First, the Petition for Adoption is filed with the court. Again, experienced legal counsel is likely to be indispensable throughout the process, given the various consents, affidavits, certified documents and related proofs required by the court. Second, notice is provided to all parties who must consent to the adoption. Third, an adoption hearing is held before the court, in which the Clerk of Superior Court in the county in which the adoption is pending ultimately determines whether adoption is in the child's best interest. Last, an affirmative response to that question will result in issuance of a Decree of Adoption order that finalizes the adoption and formally incorporates the child into the adoptive family. A few weeks after the Decree of Adoption is signed a new birth certificate showing the adoptive parents as the child's parents will be issued by the North Carolina Department of Vital Records.
Conclusion
Adoption in North Carolina can take anywhere from a few months to well over a year to complete. For prospective parents seeking adoption information, a simple Internet search yields helpful information from various North Carolina agencies and organizations. Additionally, a would-be adoptive family can consult with an experienced adoption attorney.
