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I guess I would make a distinction between a child who has been placed in a foster or foster-to-adopt home by Social Services and a child who has been placed with an adoptive family by a birthmom who made an adoption plan and willingly chose to place her child.
It seems like most of the posters are saying six months. If you are talking about a foster placement, then I might be inclined to give the bio family a little longer to get their act together. If you're talking about a situation where the birthmom placed the child as opposed to Social Services, I think six months is too long.
Adoptive parents aren't babysitters. If a birthmother places a child in an adoptive home, she shouldn't need six months or a year or what have you to turn her life around so she can parent. She's had the whole pregnancy to do that. As for a birthfather who might not have known about the pregnancy, I'd give him longer to come forward and establish paternity.
The other issue, regardless of how the child ended up in the adoptive home, is how the court system handles contested adoptions. I think the process takes entirely too long. Issues like this where a child's world may be turned upside down should take precedence over a lot of other matters. That it took 18 months for the adoption of Billysmommy's daughter to be completed is ridiculous.
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