Adoption, Legal Surrogacy, and Donors
When a couple decides to add to their family using adoption, surrogacy, or donors, it can be an exciting yet stressful time. For prospective parents considering any of these options, there are many steps to work through and details to be considered. Having an experienced attorney to guide you helps reduce stress and create a clear path towards your goal. Each of these paths to building your family takes time, patience, and persistence, but the end result makes it all worthwhile!
The law governing adoption and surrogacy is rapidly evolving as the demand for alternative methods of having a baby increases. The legal issues that surrogates and prospective parents face can be emotional and complex. The team at Amanda Todd Daniels will guide you on your journey and help minimize any risks or problems that might arise. Their years of experience will give you the confidence and comfort you need as you work through the process.
Our team will help you evaluate which path to parenthood is best for your situation.
Adoption
There are three types of adoptions possible in Mississippi:
Private Agency
A private agency adoption occurs when a prospective birth mother contacts an adoption agency and voluntarily places her baby for adoption. Our experienced attorneys can help you complete the legal steps of the adoption process.
Reasons to pursue a private agency adoption include:
- You’d like to adopt an infant.
- You want someone to help you find potential birth parents that are a good fit for you.
- You’d like the possibility of having a more open adoption relationship with your child’s birth parents.
- You want someone to screen potential birth parents for you.
Public Agency
Sometimes called foster care adoption or foster to adopt, a public adoption generally involves a child in foster care being adopted by the foster family. Because the ultimate goal of the foster care system is to reunite biological parents with their children, it can take a much longer time to adopt a child this way. However, it can be much more affordable than private adoption because the state can fund most of the expenses. Hopeful adoptive parents typically must determine whether the time it takes to adopt or the cost to adopt is more important to them.
Independent / Private Adoption
A private adoption occurs without an agency when prospective adopting parents and birth parents find one another. Prospective families can find one another through online profiles, private adoption ads, newspaper ads, or introductions by mutual friends, acquaintances, or relatives. The team at Amanda Todd Daniels can guide adoptive parents and prospective birth parents through this process and advise them of the most successful, safe, and reliable methods to locate each other for a non-agency adoption. You will need an attorney to complete the necessary legal processes and to ensure that your adoption is completed correctly and in accordance with state laws.
Reasons to pursue an independent adoption include:
- You’d like to adopt an infant.
- These adoptions often occur more quickly than agency adoptions.
- You would like the possibility of having a more open adoption relationship with your child’s birth parents.
- These adoptions can be less expensive than agency adoptions.
Our attorneys will walk you through the process to help complete your adoption effectively and efficiently and help your new family become a reality.
Surrendering a Child for Adoption
Facing an unplanned pregnancy can be overwhelming. If you are considering an adoption plan for your child, our legal team can help you evaluate your options and find the one that best fits your situation. We represent birth mothers and fathers who want to place their child up for adoption and who prefer private adoption in order to have more control over their adoption plan and the ability to consider families across the country.
The attorneys at Amanda Todd Daniels can provide you with information to help you understand different methods of locating an adoptive family, and once you have selected a family we will guide you through the adoptive process. Having your own lawyer will ensure that your rights are protected and that the adoption will be one you are comfortable with.
Surrogacy
Surrogacy is an agreement between two parties in which a woman agrees to become pregnant and deliver a child for a contracted party. Building your family by using a gestational surrogate is complicated; the process of verifying that potential surrogacy candidates qualify psychologically and medically can be time-consuming and expensive. Our experienced legal team will guide you through this process, reduce any potential legal conflict, and allow you to enjoy the pregnancy and perhaps form a supportive, close relationship with the surrogate.
There are two types of surrogacy
Traditional Surrogacy
An arrangement in which a woman is impregnated with the sperm of a married man with the prior understanding that the resulting child is to be the legal child of the married man and his infertile wife.
Gestational Surrogacy
An arrangement in which the sperm of a married man is artificially united with the egg of his wife, and the resulting embryo implanted in another woman’s womb. This woman agrees to carry the child to term and give birth without any expectation that she will raise the resulting child as her own.
The firm of Amanda Todd Daniels will help your parenthood dream become a reality by making sure all legal details of these agreements are documented both accurately and efficiently.
Donor Agreements
When working with a sperm, egg or embryo donor, it is imperative you work with an attorney who can explain the legal complications and draft an agreement that will stand up to the law. This agreement will document the rights of each of the involved parties. It will clearly state that the donor voluntarily gives up all rights to the eggs or sperm, relinquishes all rights to make decisions about any embryos as well as all parental rights over the child. The agreement will also protect the donor by clearly stating that the resulting child is the child of the intended parents. Finally, it will also certify that the donor has no parental obligations over the child, even if the child is born with birth defects or other issues.
Each situation is unique depending on the families involved, and our legal team will identify any issues that need to be addressed in the agreement. We stay at the forefront of legislation in this area in order to provide you with expert, up to date legal advice.
The Law Office of Amanda Todd Daniels can help prospective parents thoroughly review all options and choose the one that is the best fit for their family and situation. We will also provide expert legal representation for donors and surrogates, making sure all legal contracts represent the best interests of our clients.
