Hi. My name is jozlin and my sister-in-law is expecting a child. She has 3 right now and doesn't feel like she can take care of another one and is thinking of giving up the baby for adoption. My husband and I want to adopt the baby so he/she will have a good home and will still be with family. We will adopt the baby but is there anything I can legally do to make sure she doesn't change her mind and try to get the baby back before the adoption goes through. I know that adoptions can take a while and she has only said she will probably give the baby up? I read online that she can't sign over parental rights until the baby is 48 hrs old. Is this true? I'd like to find a way (my mother-in-law agrees) to make it legal before the birth so she doesn't change her mind at the last min. And if I do get the Mom to sign off before or after should i start tracking down the father for him to sign the baby away as well or can that wait until we're talking with a lawyer?
Thanks.
-j

Synnen

1. You can not sign over parental rights ANYWHERE before the child is born.
2. If you try to coerce her, that is one of the few ways a legal adoption can be overturned. Let her make her own decision.
3. If you truly feel that she would be endangering her child by keeping it, call CPS.
4. Adoption is a LEGAL process, and all THREE parties must be represented in court: The birth parents, the adoptive parents, and the child. If this is as complicated as you say with the issues in the family--GET A LAWYER.
5. Changing her mind is a birthmother's perrogative. Until she has relinquished her parental rights (And even after for a certain time period in some places), she hasn't actually made a choice. Promises to place the child for adoption can not be upheld in court. It's an extremely emotional decision, and MUST be made with a clear head and NO COERCION. Pressuring her to choose adoption, by the way, is coercion.

Also...if you or your sister in law are truly thinking of adopting, ESPECIALLY within the family, I recommend you see a counselor who specializes in adoption. There's a LOT of emotions that go with adopting, and not all of them are yours. You do, however, need to clearly see WHY you want to adopt, and what your expectations are of that adoption--it's more than likely that YOUR expectations of the whole thing are VASTLY different than the birthmother's--and in this case, the birthmother is family too.