Many of you have been asking if the adoption is finalized now that "the 30 days" have expired. The short answer is: no.
Here's the long answer:
If Maria's birth mother wants to get her back now, she'll have to prove to the Court that she was under duress or heavily drugged when she signed the
Consent Form. In this current birth mother's situation, she'd have a little to no chance of being able to prove either of those.
The Consent Form, which transferred parental rights to us is a legally binding document - it is now irrevocable. However, the Consent Form is not a Court document. The birth parents' rights need to be terminated in Court, and after that termination, our adoptive rights need to be finalized in the form of Maria's new birth certificate and social security number.
Pennsylvania law states that if there is no known birth father in the adoption, the birth parents' termination proceedings cannot begin until the baby turns 6 months old. This waiting period gives the birth father a chance to "come out of the wood work". After the 6 month waiting period, the birth mom will have to testify in court that she does not know who the birth father is, and the Court can terminate her parental rights, and the parental rights of "unknown John Doe".
After their rights have been formally terminated, we can begin our finalization proceedings. Our adoption agency thinks that the whole process, from Maria's birth date until our finalization will a take a year, at least.
So when can we have Maria baptized???? Well, Fr. Chris, keep your phone turned on over there in "Cannon Law Land", and for the rest of you...stay tuned!
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So, because of this situation, is this a closed adoption? Do you have to have any encounters with the birth mother? Is there any reason, unless the mother amazingly proves duress, that Maria could be taken out of your care? Just a couple other questions!:)
ReplyDeleteI am dorkily curious about the intricacies of the baptism situation! Since the parents' have to want their child baptized, and the mother still has rights, is that why you can't? Is it effectively like baptizing someone else's child without their permission (illicit)? Could you ask the birth mother's permission and if granted, baptize her? This is fascinating. You might even answer this in later blogs, but I haven't gotten that far! I'm sorry, this is probably annoying - you can email me if you want/have time (rzepkael@gmail.com)
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