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Your rights as a
biological parent must be legally terminated before your child can be
adopted. This is a completely
voluntary and private process, based on the adoption plan you have made
for your child.
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The rights of the baby’s father must also
be terminated before the adoption can occur.
Sometimes this is not easy to accomplish if the father cannot
reasonably be identified or located.
Termination of the father’s rights can still occur in such
circumstances with proper notice and due process for the father.
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It is against the law to intentionally misidentify the other
biological parent.
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The law
also requires that medical and social history information be obtained from
each biological parent. This
information will be vital to your child later on so it is best if the
baby’s father will take part in the adoption plan whenever possible.
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Iowa requires a three day waiting period after your child’s birth before
you can sign papers to voluntarily release your parental rights. There
are certain periods of time after that in which you may change your mind
about the adoption, even up to the time of the final court hearing if you
have good cause.
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You do not
ever have to appear in court to terminate your rights unless you choose to
for any reason.
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Crossing state lines for an adoption requires
extra steps for approval of the sending and receiving states.
