Shannon K. Brophy, Esquire

What do former President Ronald Reagan, actress Julie Andrews, and director Cecil B. DeMille have in common? Like celebrity couple Brad and Angelina, they are all purported to be adoptive parents. (http://celebrities.adoption.com)

Modern adoption involves the termination of a person's legal ties to their biological parents and family, and the establishment of new legal ties to new adoptive parents. In creating a parent-child legal relationship, adopted children can inherit as biological children, collect through Social Security and other benefit programs as biological children, and have the same rights to support as biological children.

Under the law, anyone can become an adoptive parent in Pennsylvania. In addition to married couples, Pennsylvania permits single adults and same sex couples to adopt. Further, anyone can be adopted. While we often think of children as being adopted, adults may also seek adoption. Some adults raised by active step-parents choose to be adopted by that step-parent upon reaching adulthood as a way of formally recognizing the close relationship. Other adults seek adoption as an estate planning tool. The main limitation is that the parental rights of the biological parents must be terminated, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. An exception is made for a biological parent whose spouse seeks to adopt a step-child.

Those seeking to adopt may be matched with an adoptee in a number of different ways: a private adoption agency, the local Department of Children, Youth and Families foster adopt program, or a family member or friend. Private adoption agencies and the local Department of Children, Youth and Families may limit the number of organizations it will allow its participants to work with at any one time.

Working through private adoption agencies children may be placed from within the state, within the country or internationally. The applicable laws change accordingly. While Pennsylvania residents adopting other Pennsylvania residents need only be concerned with Pennsylvania's adoption laws, interstate adoptions are subject to the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, and international adoptions are subject to the Hague Convention. Interstate and international adoptions must usually comply with the law of both the state of the adoptee's residence and the state of the adopter's residence. Internationally, this can bring about some unusual requirements. For example, those looking to adopt a child from China must have a body mass index of less than 40.

Each specific type of adoption brings with it certain advantages and disadvantages. Those choosing international adoption may find children more readily available for adoption; however, the process may be lengthy and expensive, sometimes taking years and costing tens of thousands of dollars. Further, many parents who were in the process of adopting children from Guatemala have found their adoptions stalled while the country tries to comply with the Hague Convention and stem reported rampant abuses in the system. Those working with their local Department of Children, Youth and Families may receive financial support and enjoy the relative ease of an intrastate adoption, but they will be required to initially serve as foster parents to a child, with the risk that the child will be reunited permanently with his or her biological parents before adoption.

The creation of a family, especially for a child who does not otherwise have one, is one of the most beautiful provisions under the law. The process requires deliberate application of the rules, but adoptive parents will find the rewards unlimited.

MacElree Harvey
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