Adoption in Maryland

Agency Adoptions

TYPES OF ADOPTION

    Maryland statutes establish two kinds of adoptions: agency and independent. An agency adoption is one arranged by a child placement agency, including a local department of social services. An independent adoption, commonly know as "private adoption," is one in which the arrangement is made directly between the birthparents and the adopting parents, i.e., independent of a child placement agency. This article addresses domestic agency adoptions and refers to "adopting parents," although children are placed by adoption agencies with both couples and singles.

PUBLIC VS. PRIVATE AGENCIES

    There are significant differences between private and public agencies. Private agencies are funded by fees and donations. Public agencies are funded by tax dollars. Private agencies receive children as a result of voluntary relinquishments by birthparents. Children come to a public agency after being removed from their homes as a result of abuse or neglect.

PRIVATE ADOPTION AGENCIES

    A private adoption agency works with both birthparents and adopting parents. The agency will provide adoption counseling and financial support to the birthparents. The agency will conduct a home study of adopting parents and will educate them about adoption/parenting issues. The birthparents may have input into the selection of the adopting parents. For example, the birthparents may review non-identifying resumes of the prospective adopting couples or interview willing adopting parents.

    Following the birth of the child, each birthparent signs a consent to guardianship of the child in favor of the agency. This consent also gives the agency the right to place the child for adoption. The birthparents have 30 days, from the signing of the consent, to revoke their consent. The adoption agency files a petition in the appropriate circuit court to obtain legal guardianship of the child. Following the revocation period, the court will grant legal guardianship to the agency and terminate the parental rights of the birthparents.

    During the pendency of the guardianship proceeding, the agency will place the child with the prospective adopting parents if the parents are willing to assume the risk of placement before the parental rights are terminated. If the adopting parents are not willing to assume this risk, the baby will be placed in a foster home until the parental rights are terminated. The child will then be placed with the adopting couple.

    Obtaining the consent of the birthfather is the ideal circumstance, although not necessarily the typical one. If the birthfather does not sign a consent to guardianship, the court will issue an order requiring the birthfather to show cause why the guardianship should not be granted. If the birthfather ignores the show cause order, the court will deem his failure to respond as a consent and will grant the guardianship petition, thereby terminating his parental rights.

    Sometimes the identity or the whereabouts of the birthfather is unknown.  If the court is satisfied by affidavit or testimony that the agency has made reasonable efforts in good faith and cannot learn the identity or location of the birthfather, the court can order notice to the birthfather by publication. Notice of the guardianship proceeding is published in a newspaper in circulation where the birthfather last resided, or if unknown, where the petition is filed. Notice is also posted for 30 days on a website of the Maryland Department of Human Resources. If there is no response to the publication notice, the court will grant the guardianship petition.

    Birthfathers rarely file objections in guardianship proceedings filed by private adoption agencies. This is the result of careful screening of potential placements at the beginning of the process. Specifically, if an agency determines a birthfather is likely to object to the termination of his parental rights, the agency will decline to work with the birthmother. If the birthfather files an objection, the agency will dismiss the petition for guardianship.

    For at least six months following placement of the child with the adopting parents, the adoption agency will supervise the adoption placement. When the agency is ready to consent to the adoption, the adopting couple will file an adoption petition in the appropriate circuit court. The pre-placement and post-placement homestudies are filed with the court, along with the agency's consent to adoption. The court will have a short, private hearing to determine if the adopting parents are fit to adopt the child and if it is in the best interest of the child to be adopted by the petitioners. The judge will then sign the final judgment of adoption. In approximately 12 weeks, the adopting parents will receive a new birth certificate. This birth certificate identifies the adopting parents as the parents of the child. There is nothing on the birth certificate that discloses the adoption or that the original birth certificate was changed in any way.

PUBLIC ADOPTION AGENCIES

    In a public agency, such as the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), adoption is through the foster care system. This system reflects the statutory goal of DHHS to arrange permanent homes for children, preferably with their own parents.

    Once a child has been removed from his home, DHHS will place the child into a foster care home if returning the child to his own home is inappropriate and if there is no available and appropriate relative who can care for the child.

    Adoption through a public agency is often, by its nature, an "at risk" adoption. The risk is to the prospective adoptive parents because there is no guarantee the child they are fostering will become available for adoption. Only 10 percent of children placed in foster care are adopted. The remaining 90 percent either return to their homes or, in the case of an older teenager, make the transition to independent living.

There is no fee to adopt through a public agency. Foster parents receive payment for caring for children. If this care evolves into an adoption, the adopting parents may usually receive subsidy payments at the same rate as foster care until the child reaches at least the age of 18.