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THE LAW OFFICES OF ELLEN M. KAPLAN, P.A. 9900 West Sample Road, Third Floor Coral Springs, Florida 33065 (954) 341-1309
Information on Adoption
Adoption is a wonderful way to create a family. It is also one of the most important legal proceedings in which a person can ever engage. As such, proper legal advice is essential. This is true no matter which type of adoption you are pursuing.
Most adoptions are either domestic (adopting a child born in the United States) or international/foreign (adopting a child born in a county other than the United States). The adoption proceedings for either of these types of adoption vary according to the laws and regulations of each individual state or in the case of international/foreign adoption, each country. In Florida, adoptions may be handled by either a licensed child-placing agency (agency adoption) or by a private attorney or intermediary (private placement adoption). The Law Offices of Ellen M. Kaplan, P.A. provide private placement adoption services.
The first step in adopting is to learn as much as you can about adoption and adoption law. There are many good books on adoption as well as adoption-related internet sites that can give you general information on the adoption process. You will also learn about adoption, Florida adoption law and our office procedures when you have your initial consultation. Following your initial consultation, you have the option of retaining The Law Offices of Ellen M. Kaplan, P.A. to provide adoption services on your behalf. Our law office provides two different types of service options. The first service is for couples that would like to contract with us to run specific ads on their behalf to locate a child available for adoption. The legal fee for this service is $800.00 plus the costs of the ads. Once contracted, we would place ads on your behalf in specific newspapers or flyers throughout Florida and monitor the responses to your ads. All calls received in response to your specific ad are presented directly to you for you to accept or decline the match. This service allows for the possibility of a quick match and the flexibility of accepting or declining any prospective birth mother(s) that responds to your ad. Once you have accepted a match, you would then retain The Law Offices of Ellen M. Kaplan, P.A. to provide the legal services for the adoption.
The second type of service option we provide is where your profile is placed in our profile book along with other prospective adoptive parents. Prospective birth mothers who then contact our office through various other sources are shown the profile book and get the opportunity to select the couple they feel is the best match for their child. Since the prospective birth mother selects the family that they feel would be the best match for their child, we cannot guarantee that you will be selected by nor matched with prospective birth parents. Nor can we give you an estimate of how long it will take to be selected. Some families may be in the profile book for a month or two, some may be in for a year or more. The fee to register in our profile book is $300.00. Once you are selected by a prospective birth mother, you would then retain The Law Offices of Ellen M. Kaplan, P.A. to provide the legal services for the adoption.
Whichever service you select, when birth parents contact our office, non-identifying information such as age, income, occupation, education, religion, length of time married, whether or not you already have children, your hobbies and interests and the pictures you have provided us will be shared with the birth parents. It is very important that the pictures you give us reflect who you are. Include pictures of you doing your favorite things together or pictures taken of you while on vacation. Also include a picture of your house and/or pets as well as one or two of your children, if applicable. Make your pictures speak about who you are and the things that are important in your life.
Adoptions vary in cost due to the legal services needed to complete the adoption as well as the medical and living necessities of the birth mother. Most of our cases range from $18,000.00 to approximately $40,000.00 depending on the birth mother’s living and medical needs.
Birth parents who contact our office are often times in a crisis situation and need immediate help (they are being evicted from their apartment, they have no food, their electric is being turned off, they are about to have their car repossessed, etc.). If we are unable to provide assistance within a day or two, the birth parents will most likely go to another source for help. It is important that when we call you about a prospective match that you are able to make a decision quickly and have the funds available to assist the birth parents with their immediate needs in order to stabilize them.
Under Florida law, the prospective adoptive parents may assist the birth mother with reasonable living and medical expenses incurred during the pregnancy and for up to six weeks following delivery. Reasonable living expenses are considered rent, food, utilities, transportation and clothing. Most birth mothers need some type of financial assistance. In addition, most birth mother's do not have private medical insurance. If the birth mother does not qualify for Medicaid, you may also be responsible for her prenatal care and delivery.
Prior to the baby being placed in your home, you must have a favorable home study completed by a licensed home study provider in the state where you reside. If the home study is not favorable, The Law Offices of Ellen M. Kaplan, P.A. will not be able to proceed with placing a child in your home for the purpose of adoption. Should you need a home study, we would be more than happy to refer you to a licensed home study provider in your area.
After birth, the baby will be placed in your home following execution of final consents for adoption and discharge from the hospital. If you reside outside the State of Florida, you must remain in Florida with the child until Interstate Compact in both Florida and your home state approve the placement (approximately 5-10 days). Following placement of the baby with you, we will begin proceedings to terminating the parental rights of the birth parent(s). During this time, your home study provider will also provide post-placement supervision for a period of 90 days. After 90 days, if the court has terminated the parental rights of the birth parent(s) and your home study provider has issued a favorable recommendation, we can proceed with finalizing your adoption. Final hearing on your adoption takes about 10 minutes and you and the baby will be required to attend the hearing. If you reside outside the State of Florida we will ask the court's permission for the hearing to be done telephonically so that you will not have to travel back to Florida for the hearing. Once the adoption is finalized, the baby's original birth record will be sealed and an amended birth certificate will be issued reflecting you as the parents of the child.
There are some risks in adoption that we will discuss in depth with you at the time of your initial consultation as well as the specific legal proceedings that occur during the adoption process. We hope this information gives you a brief overview of adoption and answers some of your questions regarding adoption and the procedures of our office. Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.
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