The Issue - Pre-Birth Relinquishment - Adoption

Good? Bad? Indifferent?

More of this Feature

• Introduction
• Good? Bad? Indifferent?

Related Resources

• Relinquishment, Time to Revoke
• State Relinquishment Statutes

The Colorado bill has opened up both old and new arguments.

Those supporting the bill have said:

Most young girls are afraid to go in front of a judge and answer questions about the baby's father, so waiving a hearing would take away this fear.
It will allow adopting and placing parents to connect earlier in the process and form a bond.
Once the decision to relinquish is made, it's made, whenever that happens, even pre-birth.
All other states have similar bills.
The mother can change her mind up to 72 hours after the child is born.
If we support choice, a woman should be able to commit to abortion or adoption as early as possible.

Those opposing the bill have said:

Every woman deserves a hearing.
It is a subtle form of coercion for placing parents and can give false hope to adopting parents.
In the first few months of pregnancy, a woman may be in denial; in the next few months, counseling is important, and after birth, there may be a total about-face.
All other states do not have similar bills.
72 hours after giving birth isn't enough time to make any major decision, let alone try to beat an agency or adoption attorney to court to withdraw the affidavit.
Abortion and adoption are not two sides of the same coin.

What Do You Think?

There's much more to this issue than just the comments above. Is pre-birth relinquishment something that should be included in *any* state's adoption law? Is the "accelerated" and "expedited" process something we should be pursuing or avoiding?

Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Good? Bad? Indifferent?

© Nancy Ashe

for California

Comments

Pre-birth relinquishment is something that should be carefully considered. I think that it is only right that the birth mom wait until after the baby is born before signing any papers. Hormones in pregnancy are very strange things and I can just see a lawsuit in the future dealing with a woman who wants her baby back and claims that she was affected by her hormones when she signed the papers. Although, in theory, it sounds like it would be much easier for the birthmother, it may cause problems in the long run for the adoptive parents and the birthmother.

Posted by: jmrodg at 11/12/2005 03:26 PM

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