To adopt a baby, adoptive parents must follow the Washington State adoption laws.
Washington State families interested in adoption have several options: adoption through the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS); adoption through a private agency; or independent adoption with the help of an agent such as an adoption lawyer. As DSHS usually facilitates the adoption of older children, a family hoping to adopt a baby must usually go through a private agency or independent adoption. Washington State's adoption laws set the requirements for parents who plan to adopt.
Instructions
1. Research Washington State adoption agencies, or local adoption lawyers, if you plan to pursue an independent adoption. Get recommendations from a local hospital, a nonprofit organization serving families or a support group for adoptive families; ask for information about licensed agencies that regularly help with newborn adoptions. Investigate more than one adoption agency to determine your options.
2. Contact your chosen adoption agency or adoption lawyer to start the process. Discuss the procedures necessary to qualify as adoptive parents and the fees you'll have to pay; ensure that you and the agency or lawyer have the same expectations before you sign on.
3. Participate in a home study for prospective adoptive parents through your adoption agency or a social worker approved by the Washington State courts. Provide the information specified by the Revised Code of Washington in section 26.33.190, which allows the agency to review each adoptive parent's health and financial resources, the family's home environment and other related information about the family. Submit information, when requested, to complete criminal background checks of household members older than 16.
4. Discuss the process of child placement with your adoption agency or adoption lawyer after you've passed the home study requirement. Specify that you'd like to adopt a baby rather than an older child. Work with your agency or lawyer to develop a package of information about your family; pregnant mothers and expectant fathers may be able to review the package when choosing where to place their babies for adoption.
5. Cooperate with your adoption agency or adoption lawyer to support the baby's birth mother, after she has chosen your family, to the extent permissible under Washington State's adoption laws. Pay for the birth mother's pregnancy-related expenses if you feel comfortable doing so and if arranged by your agency or lawyer.
6. Work with your adoption agency or adoption lawyer to have the baby's birth parents sign, at least 48 hours after the baby's birth, the consent to terminate their parental rights; this will free the baby for adoption. Participate with the agency or lawyer in opening an adoption case with the Washington courts and filing the birth parents's consent documents. Participate in all proceedings for the adoption case as specified until you get court approval of your adoption petition and receive the final decree.
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