Consent and the window to revoke it, terminating the rights of a parent who will not consent, the registry a putative father must use, interstate placement clearance, stepparent and relative adoption, gestational agreements, parentage orders before birth, and donor arrangements.
In states with an enabling framework, a party to a surrogacy agreement may seek an order declaring each intended parent to be a parent, declaring the person who gave birth and any spouse not to be parents, and directing the registrar to record the intended parents on the birth record. The court may issue the order before birth and stay enforcement until delivery. Other states enter an order only after birth, sometimes on an expedited timetable measured in days.
Consent statutes set a minimum interval after birth before a birth parent may sign, then a revocation period measured either in days or by reference to court approval. Some states make consent binding on execution for a newborn and allow only fraud or duress as a later challenge. Others allow a fixed number of days, or a waiver of the right to revoke signed with counsel. Federal law adds a separate rule where the child is an Indian child.
Most states maintain a registry where a man who believes he may have fathered a child files identifying information to preserve a right to notice of an adoption or termination proceeding. Registration does not establish paternity and confers no custody. Deadlines are short, commonly measured from the child's birth or from the filing of a petition. A certificate that a search found no filing lets a court proceed without notice to any unregistered man.
Statutes in many states permit an enforceable agreement for continuing contact between an adopted child and birth relatives, on conditions: a writing signed by the parties, court approval at or before the decree, and a finding that the arrangement serves the child. A breach does not invalidate the adoption, the consent or the termination. The usual remedies are enforcement or modification, often after mediation, and modification is decided on the child's interests rather than on fault.
State statutes require a written study before a child is placed, prepared by a licensed agency or an approved professional. It covers household composition, health, finances, background checks on adults in the home, references and a home visit. Federal funding conditions bar approval where a check reveals a felony for specified violent or child-related offenses at any time, or for assault, battery or a drug offense within five years.
The compact on the placement of children is adopted as state law and governs placement in foster care or preliminary to adoption across state lines. The sending agency gives written notice with prescribed contents to the receiving state's compact authorities, which may request more information and must respond in writing. The child may not be sent until that written approval arrives. Sending a child early is a violation in both states and can support license revocation.
Adoption statutes commonly waive the preplacement report, the post-placement report and agency involvement where the petitioner is the spouse of a legal parent or a listed relative, and often relax residency and expense reporting. The consent of the other legal parent remains required unless it is dispensed with or that parent's rights are terminated. A stepparent adoption also ends the other parent's support obligation going forward, which changes what is at stake in the consent.
Enabling statutes require a written agreement signed by the person acting as surrogate, that person's spouse if any, and each intended parent, with signatures notarized or witnessed. Independent legal representation is required for each side and is paid for by the intended parents. Eligibility conditions commonly include a minimum age, a prior birth, and completed medical and mental health evaluations. The agreement must be executed before any medical procedure under it begins.
Due process requires at least clear and convincing evidence before a state may sever parental rights, and every state applies that floor or a higher one. Hearings proceed in stages: adjudication of a statutory ground, then a disposition inquiry into the child's interests. Federal funding conditions require reasonable efforts toward reunification and a termination petition once a child has been in care for a defined period. A higher standard applies to an Indian child.
Statutes generally allow any adult to be adopted by another adult, on the consent of the person being adopted and often the spouse of each party. Home studies, termination of parental rights and placement supervision do not apply. Some states impose an age difference or a prior relationship requirement, and several restrict adoption of a vulnerable adult or one subject to a guardianship. The decree changes inheritance rights and, in most states, permits a name change.
Parentage statutes provide that a donor is not a parent of a child conceived through assisted reproduction. Some states apply the exclusion unconditionally; others condition it on the gametes having been provided to a licensed physician or sperm bank, or on a writing signed before conception. Where the donation was informal, courts examine intent and later conduct, and a donor who lived with the child and held the child out as his own may be found a parent.
