What Should Expectant Moms Know About Private Adoption Attorneys

When an expectant mom wants to make an adoption plan, she has a few choices as to how she would like to go about it. The Internet is full of advice about how best to go about nearly anything, and making an adoption plan is no exception. Expectant moms who want to make an adoption plan can be very fearful of going with the wrong choice when they decide how to go about it. Who has the best advice? Who will work in my best interests? Who will let me be more in control of my decision making? Am I in control of my decisions? The list of questions goes on. The best question of all is whether or not adoption agencies or private adoption attorneys are the best route for her. Which do you choose?

It would seem to the inexperienced person that there is little difference between an adoption agency and a private adoption attorney. It would also seem that one would at least be less fuss. Which one is the easiest to work with?

Any Adoption Is A Legal Matter To Consider

No matter which choice an expectant mom makes, every bit of making an adoption plan becomes a legal matter if she decides to move forward and execute on her adoption plan. With that in mind, the first thing to consider is who will be the legal entity that helps her with her adoption.

It is important for all expectant moms to know that the adoption, from a legal perspective, has to be executed in the state where the expectant mom resides. Every state has their own laws regarding adoption. Private adoption attorneys are only allowed to practice law in the states where they passed the bar exam. So an expectant mom in Florida needs to work with an adoption agency or private adoption attorneys in Florida.

An expectant mom also needs to know that no matter who she works with, she has the right to her own attorney, at the expense of the prospective adoptive parents. When working with private adoption attorneys, they may offer to do your paperwork along with the prospective adoptive parents. What an expectant mom needs to know is the attorney is legally obligated to represent the paying client, not her.

They may also offer an expectant mom another attorney from the same office as “her own attorney.” An attorney from the same office, also being paid by the prospective adoptive family and working with their attorney, is not likely to fairly represent an expectant mom. It is in an expectant mom’s best legal interest to ask for her own attorney, and one independent from the office that the prospective adoptive family is using so she is truly ensured fair representation.

Private Adoption Attorneys Do Not Offer Pre Or Post-Placement Care

One thing that adoption agencies offer that private adoption attorneys do not, is pre and post-placement care. Adoption agencies have advocates or case workers who work with expectant moms in helping them walk through the hard emotional process of making and executing on an adoption plan. A law firm is not equipped to do that for an expectant mom. They may offer professional counseling fees post-placement, but expectant moms need a lot of emotional support prior to placement and especially after. Expectant moms deserve to have their emotional concerns met with just as much care as their legal ones.

Post-placement care should be one thing every expectant mom making an adoption plan should be asking about. Whether she works with an adoption agency or a private adoption attorney, she needs to know what provisions are being made for the grief and emotional recovery that is necessary post-placement.

Expectant Moms Have Choices When They Make Adoption Plans

In summary, these are the choices that expectant moms get to make when they are making an adoption plan:

• She gets to pick the family
• The expectant Mom gets to decide is she’d like an open or closed adoption
• She gets to choose her own attorney
• Expectant moms can change their minds
• She doesn’t pay for her own attorney
• The expectant mom deserves pre and post-placement care
• The expectant mom should be working with agencies and attorneys in-state

If you have further questions about working with an adoption agency versus a private adoption attorney, you can contact us today for a free consultation.