What is an adoption scam? More importantly, how can you protect yourself from con artists who prey on adoptive families hoping to adopt? Unfortunately, there are both criminals as well as lonely, perhaps mentally ill, people who run adoption scams.
There are two types of scams, emotional and financial. Both types of scammers pretend they are pregnant and say they want to place their child for adoption. Emotional scammers are looking for attention and someone to talk with. They do not ask for money or anything else. They just enjoy the attention. Financial scammers may try to hook the adoptive family in emotionally, but their end goal is financial gain.
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Birthparents choose adoption for a wide variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include feeling emotionally unprepared to parent, a desire to finish high school or college, or feeling unable to parent without a partner. One of the most troublesome reasons for an adoptive placement is poverty. In voluntary adoptions, most adoptive parents rightly balk at a placement that is primarily the result of poverty. No one wants to take a child from a family just because they are poor. The social workers at the Independent Adoption Center and other agencies agree with this stance.
Women who call the IAC indicating that the only reason they want to make an adoption plan is because of financial problems are provided referrals to resources that can help them with housing, food, and other assistance. Of course, most situations are less clear-cut.
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The gay marriage ban in California was overturned today by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who ruled that the ban is “unconstitutional”. The case was brought to court by two gay couples who filed a lawsuit, saying that Prop 8 was a violation of their civil rights. Judge Walker agreed, stating that the ruling “vindicates the rights of a minority of our citizens to be treated with decency and respect and equality in our system.” Prop 8 was passed by popular-vote in November 2008 to utter shock of many other Californians who believed their rights to be protected and just five months after Supreme Court legalized gay marriage. Supporters of the ban claimed that it “was necessary to safeguard the traditional understanding of marriage and to encourage responsible childbearing.” The religious and conservative groups that sponsored Prop 8 (the most expensive political campaign on a social issue in the history of the United States) claimed that around the world there is a “common sense belief that children do best when they are raised by their own mother and father.” However, Walker ruled that the California law was a violation of specific clauses of the Constitution and that there was no sufficient rational basis for separating out same-sex couples by denying them a marriage license. Although the ruling was in favor of LGBT marriage, gay and lesbian marriage in California will not be allowed right away as the Judge is deciding whether to wait until the supporters of the ban bring their appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Read more:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38560562/ns/us_news-life/
Birthfathers have rights, but the extent of those rights varies according to the state where the baby is born. It is essential to find out what the law is in the state where the child is born.
In most states, a birthfather that is married to the birthmother has equal rights to the child. What this means is that he must agree to the adoption plan or there is no adoption. This is true even if he is not the biological father.
An unmarried birthfather may or may not have legal rights to his biological child. In some states, he has the same rights as a married birthfather. In other states, his rights depend on the actions he takes or does not take to claim paternity. Every state has different rules for how an unmarried birthfather declares paternity.
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You adopted this beautiful little girl with hair so different from your own. You want to take good care of it and maintain it in a way that is respectful of the child and of her heritage, but you’re not quite sure where to start. Relax. You can do this. Here are a few tips that will help you.
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Almost everyone who participates in an adoption will have contact with a social worker. Social workers play an important role in all adoptions.
As most people know, a home study is the first step in an adoption for potential adoptive parents. Most, but not all, states require that a home study be completed by a social worker who has a Masters in Social Work (MSW). Most home studies are completed by social workers employed by an adoption agency. Adoption attorneys usually refer their clients to adoption agencies to complete their home study.
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Imagine that, in their excitement before the birth of the baby, adoptive parents tell the birthmother “Get in touch anytime.” They are thinking about receiving a few emails while she interprets “anytime” to mean monthly visits. These very different ideas about open adoption can cause anger and disappointment on both sides.
It is scenarios like this that point to the need for written agreements, which provide concrete expectations and boundaries. Contact agreements are legally binding in many states. But, even in states where these agreements are not technically binding, some courts enforce them anyway. As a result, families need to think carefully about what they agree to and be sure that it is something they can live with for the next 18+ years. An adoption cannot be overturned because of either party’s failure to comply. However, if mediation becomes necessary, families have the right to say whether compliance with any of the conditions in the agreement is in the best interest of their child.
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People will sometimes ask how many babies are available for adoption. The short answer is that the number of birthparents and adoptive parents at the IAC is about equal. There is no way to know if this is true nationally, but we can give you the information we have about our intakes.
First, let me clarify that I am referring to newborn adoptions. Unfortunately, there are many older children in the foster care system with few families willing or able to parent them. The Independent Adoption Center (IAC) only places infants for adoptions when voluntarily relinquished by their birthparents. As part of an open adoption process, birthparents chose the adoptive parents who will parent their child, and have contact with the family and child after placement.
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Adoptive parent profiles are written and visual autobiographies that families who are waiting to adopt create in order to introduce themselves to a pregnant woman considering placing her child for adoption.
In a recent interview Guylaine Hubbard-Brosmer, MSW (the IAC’s Co-Branch Director in LA) and another adoption professional (Vicky) discuss: “How to Prepare an Adoptive Parent Profile for Domestic Adoption”. The interview sheds light on some tips and tricks adoption agencies use to guide their families on the road to success in domestic open adoption by helping them put together an effective adoptive parent profile. The interview was conducted by Dawn Davenport who hosts a radio talk show sponsored by Creating a Family, a nonprofit organization that provides education and resources for infertility and adoption. You can listen to the interview here.
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A new study published in Pediatrics: Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics shows children raised by lesbian mothers have better adjustment than children raised in heterosexual homes. You can download the study at: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/peds.2009-3153v1.
This study is significant because it shows that children raised with lesbian parents are not at any higher risk for behavior and other problems than children who grow up with heterosexual parents are. In fact, the researchers state, “According to their mothers’ reports, the 17-year-old daughters and sons of lesbian mothers were rated significantly higher in social, school/academic and total competence and significantly lower in social problems, rule-breaking, aggressive, and externalizing problem behavior than their age-matched counterparts.”
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