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Understanding Disrupted Adoption:
Your Legal Rights, Options and Strategies

What is a disrupted adoption?

A disrupted adoption may occur for many reasons. Occasionally a family acknowledges that they cannot raise their adopted child, because the child’s behavioral problems are impossible to deal with and place the parents or other children at risk. The causes of such behavior vary and include manifestation of pre-natal conditions such as fetal alcohol syndrome or reactive attachment disorder (RAD).

Free Telephone Consultation With A Maryland Adoption Lawyer Adoption lawyer Harvey Schweitzer offers a free 15-minute telephone consultation concerning your adoption situation. The consultation will help you decide what steps you may take next. Call Mr. Schweitzer at 301.469.3382.

Sometimes potential adopters realize that they do not want the adoption to be finalized and that they want the child removed. This situation is usually referred to as a disrupted adoption. Once the adoption is granted and the adopters decide that they cannot raise the child, the same term—disrupted adoption—is sometimes used. Another term describing this is “failed adoption.” The legal environment is very different depending upon when the "disruption" occurs. The term “adoption dissolution” is used to refer to an attempt to "undo" an adoption after final adoption decree has been granted. Sometimes the legal term “vacate,” which means “to nullify,” is used instead of dissolution. If an adoption is dissolved or vacated it has the same effect as an “adoption termination” or an “adoption termination of parental rights.”

What options are available when an adoption disruption occurs or an adoption dissolution becomes necessary?

Adoption disruption is hard on all involved. But there are options available in all adoption situations, including domestic adoptions and foreign adoptions.

Options depend on the facts and circumstances of each adoption situation and the relevant laws. Issues that need to be addressed include:

• The safety and future care of the adoptee.
• The financial and legal liability of the adoptive parents. “Giving up” may have serious consequences for the adoptive parents, who may be found to be neglectful parents.

Why adoptive parents would use an adoption lawyer for a disrupted adoption?

Adoptive parents do have options and legal rights. In the event of an adoption disruption, a knowledgeable and creative adoption lawyer can perform the following services:

• Explain the laws regarding an adoption “undoing,” vacating or “dissolving.”
• Explain the options available to the adoptive parents.
• Provide answers to difficult questions:
  • Are the biological parents or biological family available to care for the adopted child? If so, can that be arranged?
• Can a new home be found for the adopted child? If so, what are the practical and legal ramifications?
• Can the adoption be “undone” and the child returned to the adoption agency?
• Does the adoption agency have an obligation to help the adopted child?
• Can adoptive parents rights be relinquished to a private or public agency?
• What would happen if the adopted child were surrendered to “social services”?
• Is the adoptee eligible for any public benefits, such as an “adoption subsidy” (medical benefits and financial payments), or “Supplemental Security Income” (SSI)?
• Would “special education” services be helpful and if so, is the adopted child eligible?
• Do the adoptive parents have grounds for a “wrongful adoption” lawsuit?
• Develop a customized strategy to address the specific adoption situation.

Causes of Disrupted Adoptions

Occasionally a family acknowledges that they cannot raise their adopted child because the child’s behavioral problems are impossible to deal with, and place the adoptive parents or other children at risk or harm.

• The child’s behavioral problems may be caused by a prenatal condition such as fetal alcohol syndrome or reactive attachment disorder (RAD).
• The child’s behavioral problems may exhaust family resources, such as insurance, and public resources are scarce even in the best of times.
• In the most difficult failed adoption situations, the adopted child cannot continue to reside in the home which may necessitate finding a new living situation for the child, or, in the event of severe behavioral problems, institutionalization.

An adoption lawyer can offer valuable assistance – from explaining the relevant laws to developing a detailed strategy for dealing with your current adoption situation.