A:       In direct placement adoptions (otherwise known as private/independent adoptions) a birth parent chooses the adoptive parents and places the child directly with them. Initial contact is made directly between a pregnant woman and prospective adoptive parents and/or through the use of an attorney.

A:     An approved homestudy must be completed.  In addition, the birth parents must consent to the adoption.  If you do not have one already, contact us and we will help you obtain one.

A:   If the biological father is unknown or not listed on the birth certificate then the legal term for the father is “putative father.”   To terminated a putative father’s rights, a hearing must be held in which the birth mother states on the record who the putative father is, if known.  The putative father must be provide notice of the hearing.  If he fails to attend the hearing, most likely his rights will be terminated.  Alternatively, he may sign and mail in a specific form stating he is not interested in attending the hearing and consents to his rights being terminated.

A:   Michigan allows for an out-of-court consent to the termination of parental rights by the birth parents 72  hours after birth.  The birth mother must sign the form in front of an attorney and a social worker.  Often, the birth mother, her attorney and the social worker will come to our office to conduct this.  The birth mother has five business days to revoke the consent or it becomes irrevocable.  

A:  Direct placement adoptions require you to pay our retainer fees, which vary depending on what county and what state you live in.  In addition, it is customary to pay for the birth parents attorney’s fee, plus there are filing fees, birth certificate fees, and other incidental fees.  In addition, you are allowed to pay certain living, travel, and medical expenses for the birth mother.  Usually, you can expect to pay between 7k to 10k for legal aspect of adoption.

A:  As long as either the adoptive parents or the birth mother live in Michigan, we can complete your adoption.  This type of adoption is known as an ICPC adoption.  This requires us to send multiple adoption documents to the State of Michigan’s ICPC department for approval prior to leaving the state with the child.  Once Michigan approves the interstate placement, they will forward the documents to the other state involved.  Once the other state approves the documents, you are free to leave the state with the child.

A:  They have up to 30 days to make a decision but usually you are home within a week or two.

A:        Again, this depends but a good approximation is about six months.