Adoptions

In the area of domestic relations law, adoptions are one of the most joyful events for families. Based in in Indianapolis, IN, our family law attorneys at Broyles Kight & Ricafort, P.C. have helped many people expand their families through adoption.

Nissa Ricafort has personal experience with adoption: she and her husband adopted their son from the Philippines. The former President of the Board of Directors of Coleman Adoption Services in Indianapolis, Michael Wilkins has represented adoptive parents in more than 100 agency adoptions. Melanie Reichert has considerable experience working with families who desire to adopt a foster or special-needs child. Whatever your personal circumstance with adoption, we are prepared to successfully guide you through the process in Indiana.

We have assisted birth mothers considering placing their child for adoption and have worked with qualified counseling agencies to ensure that birth mothers have thought about all available options before placing their child for adoption. Most of the family law attorneys at Broyles Kight & Ricafort, P.C. have their own children, and we recognize and respect the inherent strength and courage of birth mothers who choose to place their child for adoption.

We also have helped families who desire to adopt an infant or young child. This can be an emotional and stressful time, and Nissa Ricafort’s personal experience with adoption provides her with a unique understanding of our adoptive parents’ concerns and expectations during the adoption process. We appreciate the difficulty of anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new family member. Our Indiana domestic relations attorneys work hard to keep our adoptive parents fully educated and informed during this waiting process.

In the ideal adoption situation, all interested parties agree that the adoption should take place and therefore all necessary parties have consented to the adoption. However, not all adoptions present the ideal circumstances. If you need assistance with a contested adoption proceeding, our Indianapolis family law attorneys have litigated numerous contested adoption cases, including at the appellate level and before the Supreme Court of Indiana. We have helped birth fathers successfully challenge an adoption and have assisted foster parents and grandparents in adopting children in contested proceedings.

Our domestic relations attorneys also have assisted families with step-parent adoptions, foster-child adoptions, second-parent adoptions for same-sex couples, adult adoptions, interstate adoption, and international adoptions. Each of these types of adoptions presents distinctive challenges and our comprehensive experience will help you meet these challenges.

Contact us today to schedule a consultation about adoption in Central Indiana!

The domestic relations attorneys at Broyles Kight & Ricafort, P.C. have helped many people to expand their families through adoption in Indiana. We have assisted families with step-parent adoptions, foster-child adoptions, second-parent adoptions for same-sex couples, adult adoptions, interstate adoption, and international adoptions. Our comprehensive experience with each of these types of adoptions will help you meet these challenges. To schedule a consultation to discuss your adoption options, call 317-571-3601.

Our team provides legal advice and representation to clients throughout Indianapolis, Indiana and the surrounding area including Greenwood, Franklin, Carmel, Noblesville, Lebanon, , Danville, Avon, Zionsville, Anderson, and Richmond.

Indiana Adoptions FAQs

How does adoption work in Indiana?

There are lots of different types of adoptions, so the process can begin in many different ways. In terms of the involvement of a lawyer, typically the process begins shortly after the child has been placed for adoption. At that point, a Petition for Adoption is filed with the Court. Depending on the county where the case is filed, the Court will usually schedule the adoption for a finalization hearing within 30 to 90 days.

There are lots of legal requirements for adoptions and those requirements vary greatly depending on the type of adoption. Sometimes, it is necessary to get a lawyer involved before the placement of the child, in order to ensure that all of the requirements are met and the necessary documents are prepared correctly. Because so much is at stake in an adoption, it is always a good idea for prospective adoptive parents to check with a lawyer prior to the placement of the child to make sure they understand the requirements and those requirements are being properly met.

If one spouse adopts the other spouse’s biological child while they are married, does the adoptive parent have the same parental rights as the birth parent during and after divorce?

A spouse who adopts the other spouse’s biological child during a marriage obtains the same parental rights to the child as the biological parent. This means that both parents are viewed in the eyes of the law as having equal parenting rights to the child. For all intents and purposes, the child is viewed as the child of both parents and the child has the right to be cared for and supported by both parents and to inherit from both parents. After the adoption, there is no distinction between the parents as both are viewed as the lawful parents of the child.

If the non-biological parent adopted his/her spouse’s child during the marriage, can he/she obtain primary or even sole custody during divorce? Under what circumstances is a judge likely to grant this request?

A parent who adopted her spouse’s child during the marriage can obtain primary or sole custody of the child during the divorce, as there is no presumption under Indiana law regarding which parent should receive custody of a child. Rather, Indiana law requires courts to make custody decisions based on the best interests of a child. The court will consider various factors, including the child’s relationship with both parents, which parent has served as the child’s primary caregiver, he child’s adjustment to her home, school and community, the physical and mental health of the child and the parents, and the ability of each parent to care for and provide for the child. If the adoptive parent has a close and loving relationship with the child, has served as the child’s primary caregiver, is physically and mentally healthy and can demonstrate that she is better able to care for the child than the other parent, it is possible that the judge would grant the request of the adoptive parent go have primary or sole custody of the child.

What is Assisted Reproductive Technology?

Assisted Reproductive Technology is the term used to describe various medical procedures that are used to assist people in creating their families. The most commonly used term is IVF or in vitro fertilization.

In Vitro Fertilization is a procedure whereby a man’s sperm and a woman’s egg are combined outside of the body in a laboratory dish. The embryos are then transferred into a woman’s uterus. The embryo can be transferred into the woman’s body or a gestational carrier’s or surrogate’s body. Any embryos remaining after the embryo transfer may be cryopreserved (or frozen) for future use.

Another common term is egg or embryo donation. This procedure allows a person to obtain a donated egg or embryo with the ultimate goal being the use of IVF to obtain a pregnancy.
Other procedures and terms include gamete intrafallopian transfer, pronuclear stage tubal transfer, tubal embryo transfer, embryo biopsy, preimplantation genetic testing, and zygote intrafallopian transfer.

Will U.S. citizenship be conferred upon children born aboard to an American parent utilizing surrogacy?

The transmission of U.S. citizenship at birth to a child born abroad through the use of assisted reproduction is governed by the Immigration and Nationality Act Sections 301 or 309. In order to confer U.S. citizenship, the U.S. citizen parent must have a biological connection to the child. This means either a U.S. citizen father must be the genetic parent of the child or the U.S. citizen mother must be the genetic mother or the gestational and legal mother of the child. If the parents do not have a biological connection to the child, the child will not be a U.S. citizen at birth.
Unfortunately there are circumstances where the child born by a foreign surrogate cannot obtain citizenship of the country where he or she is born because the surrogate mother is not considered the parent of the child and the child cannot acquire U.S. citizenship because the child is not biologically related to the U.S. citizen parent. This is often referred to as a “stateless child.” Before entering into a foreign surrogacy arrangement, it is extremely important to discuss the possible immigration issues with an immigration attorney so that there are no problems with bringing the child back to the United States.

Is there a statute governing parentage that could affect children born via ART in Indiana?

here are several statutes in Indiana that could affect children born as a result of assisted reproduction. The Indiana paternity statutes presume a man is a child’s biological father if the child is born during the marriage or within 300 days of termination of the marriage due to death, dissolution, or annulment. This could have both negative and positive effects on children born through the use of A.R.T.

This can be an issue if a couple enters into a gestational surrogacy agreement with a woman who is married because the carrier’s husband would be the presumed biological father of the child. This issue can be addressed by obtaining a pre-birth parentage order that recognizes the intended mother and intended father as the child’s legal and biological parents. If a pre-birth parentage order is obtained, the carrier’s husband is no longer the presumed biological parent.
This can also be beneficial when a married couple obtains a donor embryo, and the embryo is transferred to the intended mother’s uterus. Assuming this couple is married at the time of birth, the father would be the presumed biological father.

Does Indiana have paternity statutes, residency requirements, or adoption laws that could have an impact on whether or not legal parentage of a child born via third party reproduction will be permitted?

There are several statutes and other authorities that could have an impact on whether or not legal parentage of a child born via third party reproduction will be permitted. In Indiana, so long as the child is biologically related to both the intended mother and the intended father, the intended parents can obtain a pre-birth parentage order that legally recognizes them as the biological and legal parents of the child prior to his or her birth. Among many things, this gives the intended parents the ability to place the child on their health insurance prior to the birth, name the child at the hospital, make all decisions for the child at the hospital, and have the child discharged directly to them from the hospital.

If only one parent is biologically related to the child, that parent can also obtain a pre-birth parentage order prior to the child’s birth. The parent not related to the child will be required to petition the court for an adoption after the birth of the child because Indiana does not allow for pre-birth parentage orders or pre-birth adoption for a child that is not biologically related to a person.

If neither parent is biologically related to the child, they will be required to adopt the child after birth. They will likely be required to submit to criminal back ground checks, an adoption home study, and will need the consent of the birth mother and biological father. The hospital will not be permitted to discharge the child to them from the hospital or allow them to name the child or make decisions for the child while at the hospital.