[bayliss]

My 18 year old neice is pregnant, and dosen't know who the father is. She wants my husband and I to adopt the baby. I have no idea where to begin. If anyone could help, it is greatly appreciated.

She is 22 weeks pregnant, how far along should she be before we start the adoption process.

What is the first step to start an adoption?

Is it different because she is related to me?

How much is this going to cost and what all does is involve?

What are some important things we need to know?

My husband and I are so excited about the baby, but we want to make sure we do everything legally.

Thank you all for your time.

Christina

[kmalay]

Christina

I have not gone through domestic adoption we are working on state adoption(aka special needs). I would suggest these two things though. I would first find an attorney who handles adoption. You will probably have to have sometype of homestudy done too. Secondly I would make sure your niece gets counceling too. This way she can work through a lot of things and make a more informative decision. I wish you the best and keep us posted.

Hugs

Kim

[SkyDust03]

We adopted an infant that was also family about 3 years ago. We went to an attorney bmom went with us we signed all paperwork at the same time. We went to court a few months later (baby was already 2 months old when we got her) we were granted legal custody, bfather was notified(he was in prison). Six months later the adoption was final on my husband's b-day.Since B=dad is unknown your attorney will have to publish in a newspaper for him for 45 days. Then if not found the adoption can take place and his rights will be terminated. The cost this way was $1000 attorney fees and $200 for court costs. If you have any other questions I'll be glad to answer if I can.


Dawn

[SkyDust03]

You will also have to have a homestudy done. We went through the state and were licensed as foster/adoptive parents our homestudy was free. If you get one on your own it could cost 1500-4000 depending on where you go.

Dawn

[julie p.]

Hi Christina,
My husband and I are adopting his niece's baby, she is do in February. A relative adoption is called a kinship adoption. Your first step would be to contact an adoption attourney. Ours answered most of our questions on the first visit. Our homestudy will be done once we bring the baby home from the hospital by a social worker. That will cost us about $500.00, and take between 6 months to one year to finalize. Our attourney fees are about $2500.00 and we have to pay about $3200.00 for social services who are dealing with our niece, she lives in a different county. We live in California so our costs might be a little higher than other areas. Once you find an attourney and have him answer some of your questions you will feel a lot better.

Take care,
Julie