MISSISSIPPI

 Any adult who has resided in the State for at least 90 days prior to thefiling of the petition may adopt. A husband and wife must jointly adopt.

Who Can Be Adopted?

 Any person can be adopted.

Consent to Adoption

 Written consent is required of the following people:

 (1) both natural parents, or parent, if only one parent;

 (2) if the parents are dead, then any two adult relatives within the thirddegree of the child;

 (3) the guardian ad litem of an abandoned child;

 (4) any person who has physical custody, or to whom custody has been awardedthrough the court;

 (5) the agent of the county department of public welfare who has placed thechild; and

 (6) the adoptee who is over 14 years of age.

If the adoptee is born out of wedlock, the father shall not be deemed to be aparent and no reference shall be made to him.

 Parental consent is not required if

 (1) the parent has abandoned or deserted the child;

 (2) the parent is mentally, morally, or otherwise unfit to raise and train thechild;

 (3) the parent's parental rights have been terminated; or

 (4) the child has been removed from a parent's home and cannot be returnedwithin a reasonable length of time because it would be damaging to the child,or the parent is unable or unwilling to take care of the child.

 Any required consent shall not occur until 3 days after the adoptee is born.

Confidentiality

 All adoption proceedings shall be confidential and held in a closed court.All adoption records shall be confidential and shall not be public record andshall be withheld from public inspection, except upon a court order.

 No reference shall be made to the marital status of the natural parents. Thepapers that are present during the adoption hearing shall not contain the namesof the biological parents. The clerk of the court shall keep a separateconfidential index showing the names of the biological parents.

 The Bureau of Vital Records of the Mississippi State Board of Health shallmaintain a centralized adoption records file. A revocable affidavit may befiled by any birth parent either authorizing or prohibiting the release ofidentifying information. Any adoptee over 21 years of age may requestidentifying information regarding his/her birth parents. Consent to release ofthis information must be obtained from both parents, otherwise the parentgranting the release may not divulge the identity of the parent refusing suchrelease of information. Any nonidentifying information may be released to anadoptee 18 years of age or older, an adoptive parent, or the adoptee'soffspring or blood sibling 18 years or older.

 The adoptive parents or an adoptee at least 18 years of age (or a sibling) mayobtain any nonidentifying information through a written request. Anyinformation obtained by the Bureau concerning a genetically transferabledisease or illness must automatically be given to the adoptive parents or theadoptee, if 21 years of age or over.

Permissible Fees

 A reasonable fee, as determined and approved by the court, may be charged forthe preadoption investigation. All other costs of the proceeding shall becharged in the manner that the court may direct.

Place of Adoption Hearing

 The adoption hearing shall take place in the county where the adoptive parentsreside, where the adoptee resides, where the adoptee was found when abandonedor deserted, or where the home that the adoptee is temporarily placed in islocated.

Authority To Place Child

 Any charitable or religious corporation, organization, or superintendent orhead of such charitable or religious corporation, organization organized underthe laws of the State, or any public authority, that is authorized to providecare or place children for adoption, and any association or institution thatplaces children for adoption can place a child.

Relative Adoption

 The requirement that the adoptive parent has been a resident of the State forat least 90 days shall not apply in the case of relative adoptions.

State Law: FullText

Not available in electronic form at this time for this state, sorry.

Attorney ReferralService

Mississippi State Bar
P.O. Box 2168
Jackson, MS 39225-2168
(601) 948-4471

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