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What types of adoptions does the Law Offices of Laurie B. Goldheim handle?
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My firm specializes in all types of adoptions including private domestic adoptions, agency assisted adoptions and finalizations, and finalizations of international adoption placements. In addition, my firm routinely represents people in adult adoptions, second parent adoptions, step-parent adoptions, foster care adoptions, and re-adoptions of international adoptions that finalized outside of the United States. My clients include married couples, single men and women, and same-sex couples. My firm also represents birth parents.
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How do I locate a birth mother who wants to place her child for adoption?
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My firm will help you establish a networking plan and strategy to locate a birth mother who wants to place her child for adoption. The networking plan primarily consists of advertising in newspapers throughout the country. It is one of the most effective ways to locate birth mothers.
My clients also create a "profile" about themselves consisting of an autobiography and photographs. [jeamrie@optonline.net]. I send this profile to birth parents so that they may learn more about you.
Other effective networking methods include internet exposure, birth mother letters and letter writing campaigns to doctors, hospitals, planned parenthood clinics, clergy persons, and college and high school counselors, all of whom may be able to introduce you to birth mothers who are interested in placing children for adoption.
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Once I locate a birth mother, how do I know that this is the right adoption situation for me?
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My firm will assist you in gathering all the information necessary to make and educated an informed decision about the best situation for you. During the adoptive parents' selection phase of the adoption process, my role is to help you assess potential adoption situations, obtain the family and health histories of the prospective birth parents, and to estimate the financial obligations that may arise in connection with the anticipated adoption. It is from the sum of all of this information that you will make a decision as to which situation is most suitable for you.
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What information can I expect to receive about the birth parents and the child I will adopt?
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My firm will obtain a family medical and social history form from the birth mother and, when possible, the birth father.
I will also obtain the birth mother's available pre-natal records from her obstetrician and the baby's medical records
from the hospital and pediatrician. I will also request test results, sonograms and any other available information from the
doctor about the birth mother's pregnancy. I ask all birth mothers to undergo HIV testing and drug and alcohol screening.
You may request any other medical tests that you would like the birth mother to undergo. I can arrange for those tests
provided the birth mother is willing to submit to them and her doctor is willing to perform them.
Adoptive parents may be required to pay for the cost of such requested testing.
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Do you encourage open adoptions?
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Many people who are considering adoption assume that an "open" adoption is defined in the broadest of terms - that the birth parents know the full names and address of the adoptive parents and can visit throughout the child's life. Although an open adoption may sometimes be defined in such broad terms, this is NOT the only definition of an open adoption or the only interpretation of its meaning by either adoptive parents or birth parents.
The majority of independent adoptions are "open" to a certain degree and that is what often makes an independent adoption appealing to all the people involved in it. In most independent adoptions, the adoptive parents and birth parents speak to each other on the telephone and often meet in person, either before or soon after the birth of the child. The birth mother provides the adoptive parents with as much information about her social and medical history as possible and the adoptive parents share as much non-identifying information with the birth mother with which they are comfortable. Adoptive parents and birth parents often develop a relationship despite the fact that the birth mother does not know the last name or the address of the adoptive parents. This way, adoptive parents have a connection with the birth parents while maintaining confidentiality.
Some adoptive parents and birth parents have no contact after the adoptive parents take custody of the child. Some adoptive parents agree to send pictures of the child to the birth parents at scheduled intervals over time. Some birth parents and adoptive parents maintain contact for years. The degree of openness is determined by the adoptive parents and the birth parents, together. It is sometimes a matter of compromise as to what degree is acceptable to all the parties so that everyone can be comfortable with the openness of the adoption.
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How long will it take to adopt a child?
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Although there are no guarantees, the adoption process, from the time our clients begin advertising until the time they take custody of their child, is approximately six months to one year.
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Does your firm recommend that birth mothers have counseling?
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My firm always encourages birth mothers to have counseling. Some states require counseling for the birth mother. I believe that counseling enables a birth mother to work through the emotions involved with placing her child for adoption and helps better ensure a successful adoption. The cost of counseling, if not covered by the birth mother's insurance or Medicaid, is paid for by the adoptive parents.
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What is the average cost of a private, domestic adoption?
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The average cost of an adoption, excluding the cost for your home study, advertising costs, telephone bills and travel expenses, ranges between $15,000 and $30,000, depending on how much financial assistance your birth mother requires and the law allows.
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