Types of Adoption in New Jersey

Many people are unaware of just how many types of adoption there are to consider from private and agency adoptions to open and closed adoptions. About 59% of non-stepparent adoptions involve children from the foster system, but the remainder comes in many other forms. Ahead, we’ll go through many of the different adoption types that are available to you in New Jersey.

Private Adoptions

Private adoptions are one of the most common forms of adoption, especially for parents adopting infants. When undertaking a private adoption, the birth parents place their child up for adoption and interview prospective families until they find someone they like. The birth parents can either search for families through word-of-mouth, search through profiles, or seek assistance from an adoption agency.

As stated at the outset, private adoptions are the most common of all adoptions for those looking to adopt an infant. It can often be difficult to place infants with a new family when it comes to public adoptions or adoptions from foster care, and while these absolutely can happen from time to time, they are much rarer than adopting privately.

Agency Adoptions

There are essentially two main forms of agency adoptions:

Public agencies: Public agencies exist with the purpose of finding new homes for children in the custody of the state. Children could be in the custody of the state due to neglect or misconduct from their birth family or due to abandonment. In some cases, parents will voluntarily relinquish their parental rights to a state agency.

Many children in the care of public agencies spend a fair amount of time there before being legally free to be adopted as many of the children will have emotional or medical issues due to their troubling backgrounds.

Domestic agencies: With domestic agency adoption, the parental rights of the mother are relinquished or transferred over to the agency after the child is born. After a deep and comprehensive home study process, the adoption agency then places the child with their new adoptive family.

The screening of the family, the counseling of the birth parents, and the facilitation and acceptance of the relinquishment of the child are all the responsibility of the agency, along with supervising the placement of the child until finalization and providing the birth mother with permissible financial assistance. If you need help adopting a child, reach out to our NJ adoption attorney.

Relative Adoptions

Relative adoptions are always going to be the most preferred kind of adoption by the legal system. By adopting a relative, family members can ensure that the child or children will be staying within their biological family. This helps the children better know not just where they come from but also their medical history and their family’s morals, values, and traditions.

Open vs. Closed Adoptions

Prospective adoptive parents will have to consider beforehand whether they’ll want an open or a closed adoption.

Open adoptions: Open adoptions occur when the adoptive parents and the original birth parents keep in regular contact with one another. When the birth mother and the adoptive family have matched, they can exchange information such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, photos, and anything else they need to keep in touch.

Before the baby has been born, the adoptive parents and the birth mother may have some correspondence via email or over the phone, and the adoptive family will most likely visit the birth mother in person. Through communication, the adoptive family and the birth mother can discuss and come to an agreement over what shape the relationship between the baby and the birth mother will take and how much communication there will be between them.

Closed adoptions: Closed adoptions are essentially the complete opposite of open adoptions. There will be little to no exchange of any information, and the protection of privacy and medical information will be kept in confidence by the adoption agency. Once the child has been born, there will be no communication, visits, or even exchanges of letters or pictures.

If you are considering adopting a child, our NJ adoption attorney can help you understand your options, guide you through the legal process and home study, and help the adoption go as smoothly as possible. Contact Cofsky & Zeidman in Haddonfield at (856) 429-5005 or in Woodbury at (856) 845-2555 to learn more about your adoption options.