Adoption questions

[deelaundry]

Hi! Just heard about this community and am very excited to join in.

I have two questions related to adoption by American parents. I've tried to do internet searches but am not getting the exact desired info. If you have sources I can go and read to get the information, that would be great as well!

1. In the first situation, a pregnant British citizen comes to the US, gives birth in the US, and then decides they want their American friend to adopt the baby. The British person will give up all parenting rights. The baby will be a US citizen given they were born here. Are there any special hoops the adopting parent will have to go through because the birth parent is not a US citizen, or is it the typical process of newborn adoption? Is there anything the British person needs to file or report in the UK since the baby is not going back to the UK? I'm thinking not but just checking.

2. In the second situation, an American wants to take in an orphaned child who is fleeing another country due to an active war. Is there any path to adoption? Sources I've seen say Americans can only foster refugees, not adopt. The child knows for sure that their parents are dead (one died before the war, one died during). This is not exactly a cross-cultural case, as the country at war is England (this is modern-day but AU obviously). It's a little bit cross-cultural, as the American is Jewish and the English child is probably affiliated with Church of England, but I don't think that will really matter.

Comments

[conuly]

1. It's an international adoption. If your characters want to do this legally, then they are going to have to talk to a lawyer who is familiar with international adoption, probably two lawyers, one for each of them.

The fact that the child is born in the USA may actually make the situation *more* complex.

This is the US government website on the subject: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/Intercountry-Adoption/Intercountry-Adoption-Country-Information/UnitedKingdom.html

2. It is not impossible. However, it is very difficult - before the child could be placed for adoption they'd want to first prove there were no relatives at all, not just no parents. And if the child's country is at war, that is naturally very difficult.

International adoption is rife with a lot of unethical behavior, so I won't say this sort of thing never happens but if the foster parents want to do the right thing then they'll want to do it by the book. That means waiting while every attempt to trace any relations or find a community member to adopt the child is exhausted. The US and the UK do not have the same culture, even though we generally speak English.

https://adoption.com/adopt-a-refugee-child/

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/magazine/afghanistan-orphan-baby-l.html (that baby was not a refugee, but it's exactly the sort of situation that laws about international adoption are supposed to prevent)

[nineveh_uk]

The US website link is really clear - fascinating to read the process! I'd add some cultural context for (1): not only is the Hague Convention in place, but voluntary surrender of newborns for adoption is extremely rare in the UK. So the local authorities charged with determining whether the baby is available for adoption in the UK, let alone the US, are not going to start off with a presumption that this is a normal, nice solution for a mother who doesn't feel able to parent. They are going to start off with the presumption that this is extremely unusual and that the desirable outcome is to enable what would usually happen in the UK, that the mother would retain the child. People, mostly women, who become pregnant in the UK, overwhelming choose between the two options of "give birth and raise the child herself, with or without a partner" or "terminate the pregnancy". Almost none are having the baby with the intention of it being then adopted. It does happen very occasionally, but you aren't going to see it as a routine thing in a sitcom storyline.

Of course, this doesn't mean you can't make this work for your story! Maybe your character is that unusual person. But to convince a UK audience, you do need to make sure you at least acknowledge that it is unusual, and there are logistics.