Dallas Adoption Attorneys

Experienced Texas Child Custody & Adoption Law Firm

Adoption is a legal term that refers to the transference of parental rights from biological parents/birth parents to adoptive parents.  It is a legal arrangement that is binding by state laws.  When adoptive parents successfully adopt a child, they will obtain full legal parental rights for the child they adopted.  These means that like birth parents, adoptive parents are responsible for the safety and well-being of the child that they adopt.  Once a child is adopted, he/she will be issued a brand new birth certificate which will have the adoptive parents names listed on it.  The original birth certificate, which has the birth parents names, will be seals and will only be accessible through a court order.  

Texas Adoption Law

Adoption laws fall under the realm of family law, which means that the states regulate adoption laws, not the federal government.  Each state will set forth adoption laws that regulate the adoption of children as well as the regulation of adoption agencies.  The only time the federal government will become involved in an adoption is when a child is adopted from another country.  In those cases, the United States Immigration and Naturalization (INS) would regulate the terms of the adoption along with the state in which the adoptive parents are legal residents.  In the state of Texas, adoptions and all adoption laws are regulated by the Family Code, just like child support and child custody issues. 

Open vs. Closed Adoption

In the state of Texas, adoptions may be anonymous, open or private.  There are two recognized forms of adoption that are most common: open adoption and closed adoption.  During open adoptions, the adoptive parents know the birth parents and may choose to remain in contact after the adoption occurs.  In closed adoptions, neither the adoptive parents nor birth parents know one another, and will most likely never have contact with one another. 

Dallas Adoption Lawyers

When you have questions related to child custody and/or adoption, contact a Dallas family law firm that empathizes and that can help!