Should It Matter That Adoptive Parents Are Gay?

The following article addresses a recent Florida case where a gay couple were taking care of two children as a result of them coming into their care through the Department of Children and Families and their desire to formerly adopt the children after they had been in their care for a long period of time. I raise the question here, should it matter that the couple wishing to adopt these children are gay, and do you buy the arguments that were made to stop the adoption from happening?

http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2008/12/more_on_florida_adoption_case.php

Divorce and Adoption

Everyone who is tuned into entertainment tabloids right now is aware that Madonna and her husband, Guy Richie are in divorce court. Many of you may remember that about two years ago, the couple adopted a little boy from Malawi. What does Madonna's divorce have in common with other less high profile divorces? Well, one thing comes to mind is what happens when a divorce happens shortly after an adoption of a child? Should the divorce help annul the adoption? From a legal perspective, I believe that once an adoption is final, there is nothing that can overturn the adoption absent fraud, however, there begs the question, if you are aware that your marriage is unstable at the time that you are adopting a child, and you divorce shortly after the adoption is finalized, is this something that should help determine whether the adoption should be overturned? Its an interesting question, and one that I'm sure many people have dealt with. My suggestion is that if your marriage is unstable, you should not bring a child, adopted or biological, into the marriage. It is unfair to the child and certainly unfair to the consenting biological mother or father who thought their child was being adopted by a stable, happy couple.

To read about the issues surrounding Madonna's adopted child and her divorce, see:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2008/10/david-bandas-da.html

Protecting Father's Rights

Every now and then I have a man come into my office who is aware that there is a woman who may be pregnant with his child and he wants to know how to protect his parental rights. In order for an un-wed father to protect his parental rights, he needs to do the following:

1. Register with the Florida Putative Father Registry ; (http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Planning_eval/Vital_Statistics/Putative.htm)
2. Assist the mother as much as he can emotionally and financially during her pregnancy; and
3. When the child is born attempt to enter into a Shared Parenting Agreement so that he can insure contact and each parties obligations to the child financially. If that fails, he should file a Paternity Action.

In the State of Florida, if you do not register with the Putative Father Registry, your child can be put up for adoption without your consent, therefore it is essential that you register with this entity in order to protect your rights. However, even if you properly register, you still need to make efforts to assist the mother, so it is important that you do what you can to stay involved. Unwed fathers are at a disadvantage in the State of Florida so it is important to know how to protect your interests. The good thing about the Putative Father registry is that you can register with it prior to the birth of the child, and it is cheap to do it. Knowing how to protect your rights is the best way to insure that your child is not adopted without your consent or knowledge and that if the mother is attempting to block you from having contact with the child after it is born, it insures that the courts will see that you are serious about wanting to establish a relationship with your child.

Florida Information

The Florida Bar website is a wonderful place for you to go to if you are looking for information concerning an attorney that you are getting ready to hire, or have already hired. In addition, the Florida Bar offers a series of pamphlets about divorce, adoption, guardianship and other popular areas of law. If you are looking for general information about divorce, guardianship, adoption, wills, etc., follow this link:

http://www.floridabar.org/tfb/TFBConsum.nsf/48e76203493b82ad852567090070c9b9/7adaf9c3481ead7685256b2f006c53fa?OpenDocument

Adoption Awareness Month

November is National Adoption Awareness month and I have been searching around the Internet for interesting stories about adoption. The following article addresses a lot of issues concerning adoption, including the rights of a child to gain information about their birth parents, the painful decision to give up a child for adoption, and how birth children can develop a relationship with their birth parents long after they have become adults.

http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-lovestory1104.artnov04,0,3612865.story