[KellyStacy]

We were wondering if a homestudy is needed for a private adoption.Through friends a biological mom wants us to adopt her baby she is only 2 and a half months pregnant.We have contacted several lawyers and basically are told nothing can be done until after the baby's birth.then she can sign off on her rights along with the biological father and then we file a petition with the courts we could get the baby from the hospital-the court will then conduct an investigation -I am getting conflicting stories on this-Please if anyone in the state of Maryland could give us some advice this would be extemely helpful-thanks

[aMarylandfamily]

Is the bio mom also in Maryland?

We did a private adoption years back but the bio mom was in a different state ... and believe a homestudy is required for all adoptions ...

Depending on where you are (and you may need a quick turn around) Adoptions Together, Inc. out of Silver Spring and Baltimore did a wonderful job for us doing the homestudy and any follow up finalization reports required. They have an adoption attorney who works out of (or next to) their office who may be a beneficial source vs. contacting an attorney who has done or only does a few adoptions here and there. Bio mom can even register with them I believe and adoption can be coordinated on both ends from there ... we picked our baby up from hospital ... or they go to temp foster care for a short time while rights paperwork/petition is processed.

Hope this helps - no answers but directions for the answers. ATI has a Web Site too to look at but they are willing to make any situation work so give them a call 301-439-2900 (I believe).