Many couples in North Dakota and nationwide would like to have children in their family, but sometimes are unable to accomplish this easily because of such things as infertility, medical problems or simply having gotten married too late in life to biologically bear a child. At the same time, there are many children in the state, nation and worldwide who are without parents, languishing in foster care placements or orphanages and often moved from home to home. This occurs for reasons ranging from the untimely death of a parent or parent to tragedies such as abandonment, abuse or neglect.
For some prospective adoptive parents, the traditional route of seeking to be approved to adopt a child by applying to an adoption agency is a difficult one. Some adoption agencies prefer younger couples and may have an arbitrary age cut off. Others may not be prepared to approve an adoption for a couple that is of mixed religious faith or that is not religious at all. A single parent or a gay or lesbian couple may also be denied at many adoption agencies. For many of them, an increasingly popular road to adoption is use of the Internet, placing ads on websites or Facebook profiles seeking pregnant women who wish to give up their children for adoption shortly after they are born.
Doing it this way may cut down on some of the red tape, but there are also people out there who only want to scam prospective parents out of money. There have been criminal charges against some women who have promised their children too many couples, with no intention of actually following through. While some couples have found a child to adopt by using the internet, it is strongly recommended that caution is used, as well as the services of a family law attorney experienced in adoptions. Being represented by an experienced adoption attorney throughout the process is essential to make sure that all applicable laws are complied with so that no unnecessary obstacles to the finalization of the adoption occur.
Source:
Indystar.com, “Parents’ use of the Internet for adoptions can be dangerous” Marisa Kwiatkowski, Dec. 11, 2013
