When you’re preparing to expand your family by adopting a child or using a surrogate, there are a lot of things you’ll need to do before you can welcome your newest family member into your home. One thing you’re sure to encounter a lot of is paperwork. From assessing your finances to making sure the legal aspects of the adoption or surrogacy agreement are sound, paperwork is an essential aspect of adoptions & surrogacy. Our team at Hildebrand Law Office, P.C. is extremely familiar with this aspect of adoptions & surrogacy, and below we’ll go over a few of the main documents you can expect to encounter on your journey toward building a bigger family.
- Application Forms – These forms will cover areas like your background, marital status, employment, financial history, and lifestyle. They may also include questions about your motivations and readiness to adopt or use a surrogate.
- Financial Disclosures – Even if you include financial information in your initial application, you can expect to have to fill out additional forms that disclose your financial history, income, tax returns, bank statements, and other relevant financial information.
- Medical Assessments – These assessments are meant to determine if you are physically and mentally capable of providing suitable care for a child and ensuring their well-being.
- Background Checks – Your background check may require fingerprinting and looking for any records of criminal history, especially instances of child abuse or neglect, to ensure that a child will be safe and cared for when they become part of your family.
- Consent Forms – There are several circumstances that may require extensive and explicit consent forms for adoptions & surrogacy. For adoptions, you will need the consent of the birth parents or the legal agency that has custody of the child. Consent forms for surrogacies are extremely thorough and cover things like medical compensation, the surrogate’s agreement to relinquish parental rights, and more.