CALIFORNIA

 Any adult can adopt, as long as they are at least 10 years older than theadoptee. A court may waive the 10-year requirement if the adoption is by astepparent or relative and if it is in the child's best interest.

 If a spouse wants to adopt, the other spouse must give his/her consent, unlessthey are legally separated.

 For the first ninety days after a child is freed for adoption and is beingplaced by an agency, the child may only be placed with a family of the sameracial, ethnic, and cultural background. An exception to this rule may be madewhen the birth parents request it, when the child has an extraordinary physicalor emotional need, or when such a policy would otherwise not be in the child'sbest interest. Religious background will also be considered.

Who Can Be Adopted?

 Any child or adult can be adopted. This summary, however, applies to theadoption of unmarried minors.

Consent to Adoption

 The following parties must consent to the adoption:

 (1) the mother;

 (2) the man who is presumed to be the father by marriage or attempted marriageto the mother at the time of birth or within 300 days prior to birth; or hasbeen legitimated as the father by other specified means;

(3) Department of Social Services or county adoption agency, where parentalconsent is not necessary; and

 (4) an adoptee who is over 12 years of age.

 No consent is required in the following circumstances:

(1) one parent has been awarded custody and the other parent has notcommunicated with nor paid support and care of the child for 1 year, then thecustodial parent alone may consent, as long as the noncustodial parent is givennotice of the hearing;

(2) when parental rights have been terminated or the parent has voluntarilygiven up his or her rights to the child;

(3) when the parent has deserted the child; or

(4) when the parent has given up the child for adoption by relinquishingrights to the Department or a licensed agency.

 The court shall order that relevant persons and agencies make efforts toidentify the alleged natural father. Any potential natural father who isidentified must be given notice of the hearing. After the natural father, ormore than one natural father, is notified, they must claim paternity withinthirty days and appear at the hearing or their parental rights will beterminated. If the natural father does appear in court, the court willdetermine if he is in fact the father and then determine if it is in thechild's best interest for the father to retain his parental rights. If so, thefather's consent will be required. If not, the court will terminate thefather's parental rights.

 If after making efforts, the court is unable to identify the natural father,the court will enter an order terminating the unknown father's parental rights.(This information regarding alleged father's rights is found in7610 to 7670 of the California Civil Code).

 Regarding independent adoptions, any required consents may be withdrawn, until90 days have passed, at which time the consent becomes permanent. A parent'srelinquishment to an adoption agency, filed with the Department, is final. Itmay only be rescinded upon mutual agreement of the relinquishing parents andadoption agency.

Confidentiality

 All adoption proceedings shall be held in private. The records in the hearingare not open to inspection, except upon a court order.

 The natural parent may at any time in the future request from a licensedadoption agency or the State Department of Social Services all knowninformation about the status of the child's adoption, except for identifyinginformation about the adoptive family. Prior to adoption, the medicalbackground of the adoptee and the adoptee's natural family as well asadditional information on the adoptee's scholastic, developmental, and familybackground shall be revealed to the prospective adoptive parents.

 The natural parent may indicate in writing that his or her identity andaddress can be disclosed to the adoptee when the adoptee reaches 21 years ofage. In addition, the natural parent of an adoptee who is 21 years of age mayreceive similar identifying information about the adoptee, if the adopteeconsents to its release. The Department of Social Services may arrange contactbetween the adult adoptee and the natural parent, if the latter two consent inwriting. The adoptive parents may also be provided with the biological parents'identifying information if medical necessity or other extraordinarycircumstances justify the disclosure.

Permissible Fees

 The adoptive parents must file with the court a full accounting report of allexpenses paid by them in connection with the adoption. These expenses mayinclude fees related to the birth and related health care, placement, and otherexpenses of the biological parents or the adoption.

Place of Adoption Hearing

 The adoption hearing shall take place in the county where the adoptive parentlives. In the case of adult adoptions, the hearing shall take place in thecounty where the adoptive parent resides or where the adult adoptee resides.

Authority To Place Child

 Any person or organization that holds a valid license or permit to placechildren for adoption issued by the State Department of Social Services, or theDepartment itself, is authorized to place a child for adoption. In addition, anatural parent may select the adoptive parent personally without theinvolvement of any agency.

Relative Adoption

 There are no provisions in the law regarding relative adoptions. In the caseof an adoption by a stepparent where one natural or adoptive parent retainscustody, consent must be given by the custodial parent and no home study isrequired.

Advertisements

 It is illegal for any unlicensed person to advertise that he or she mayaccept, provide, or place a child for adoption, or to actually partake in theseactivities (other than a parent placing his child for adoption). No one mayadvertise a request for children to be adopted.

Attorney Referral Service

State Bar of California
555 Franklin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 561-8200

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