Adopting a child is a difficult process, and there is a lot of paperwork involved, regardless of whether you’re involved in a private, government, domestic, or international adoption.
Nowadays, adoption is one of the alternatives available to parents who cannot conceive themselves or can but still wish to adopt a child. When adopting a child, you create new family and legal ties, whereby the birth parents give up any legal right or obligations to the child when the new parents complete the adoption process. The exception to this is when step-parents are adopting a child with a birth parent.
Adoption is a very complex area of family law, particularly as there are so many parties involved in the process: the prospective adopters, the child, other children of the prospective adopters, the child’s current guardians, the child’s birth parents, and other birth relatives. Since it is a sensitive issue to deal with, it is important that all necessary steps are taken and procedures are followed to help you follow with the legal framework surrounding adoption.
A number of factors are taken into consideration when parents are trying to adopt. In B.C., both opposite-sex and same-sex couples can adopt, and the adoption process primarily takes into consideration the best interests of the child, in addition to the interests of the prospective parents.
We can help you to understand the process of adding a new member to your family and your new legal responsibilities should you choose to do so. As well, we can represent your interests throughout the process, including obtaining a final adoption order from the Court. Get in touch today to talk more about your needs and how we can help you with your adoption process.