Adoption Part 3

Now that you know a little a about the basic framework of adoption in the part of the blog I am going to go through the adoption procedure in Illinois.

There are a number of prerequisites that must be met before filing a petition for adoption.

• Illinois must have jurisdiction over the child being adopted.
• The biological parents of the child being adopted has to surrender their parental right or the court must revoke their parental rights. 

Steps of adoption

1. Select the type of adoption
2. Choose an adoption professional
3. Filing petition for adoption
4. Spending time with the child
5. Finalizing the adoption

Adoption Part 2

Now that I have introduced you to the topic of adoption and I have shared my experiences with you; I would like to give you a some information on the basis and the procedure for adoption in the State of Illinois.

There are many children across the state on need of a mother, father, brother or sister. Children in need can be adopted through a private adoption with DCFS,  through an adoption agency or at the request of a family member. Each method of adoption has its own process and requirements. The adopting parents can be single or married and has to be of legal age.The adopting parents must go through a criminal background check, a credit check and parenting classes.

Related adoption - The child is adopted by a family member that is related to the child or either of the parents.

Agency adoption - An agency is given the authority to place a child with the adopting parents.

Private Adoption - A private adoption occurs when neither of the adopting parents are related to the child and an agency is not used for the adoption.


The legislation that governs and regulates adoption in the State of Illinois is called the Illinois Adoption Act. The law of the Illinois Adoption Act applies when the adoption of a child or children is to be finalized in Illinois (Braselton, 2017).

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ADOPTION:

1. You may take care you the child for weeks or months until the adoption process is underway.
2. It cost more to adopt a girl than a boy.
3. African American males are the hardest children to place into homes.
4. In an open adoption the adopting family and the child maintains connections with the biological parents; on the converse in a closed adoption, there is not contact between parties.
5. The average cost of a private and agency adoption ranges from $20,000 to $40,000 dollars. 

http://www.family-law-illinois.com/Adoption/What-Is-The-Illinois-Adoption-Act.shtml

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2098&ChapterID=59

Adoption Into & Part 1

Hello Class welcome to my blogspot!

My name is Christopher Goodson, and the topic I have chosen is adoption. Like many other children around the world I was adopted at the age of 14. I believe childhood is a very important phase and time in each and everyone of our lives. There are many pros and cons that go on in adoptions such as incompetent parenting, exploitation of the system, neglect of policies & procedures and the overall well being of the child. I began to engage and mentor in family law so that children would not have to go through the things that I went through growing up as a ward of the state in the state of Illinois. I am excited to do this project as well as share my story with you all.

Thank You for reading, 

Christopher Goodson

Adoption in the United States can be a beautiful thing. Adoption gives parentless children a chance to become a part of a loving family. Adoption establishes qualified adults as a child’s new parent. The new parent now takes on the responsibilities of the child as well as parental rights. The losing parents are deceased, gives up their parental rights, or their rights are terminated by the courts (Termination of parental rights, n.d.). During my time as a foster child I never felt protected. No one ever asked me what I wanted. In this portion of the blog I want to talk about my experiences and the legality of adoption.

My sibling and I fell into the care of DCFS at a very young age. We lived in the Robert Taylor homes, on the south side of Chicago. My father, a high ranking member of the Black Disciples, was in jail on drug and murder charges. I was my father’s only child. My mother was a drug addict and was never home. On this particular day our home had caught fire,  my older brother had fallen asleep while cooking. Emergency service arrived and there was no guardian at the home. There were 13 children, the oldest being 12 years old. I was placed in the custody of my grandmother and my siblings were placed in a facility. 

My mother had her parental rights taken away for habitual neglect. We all had eventually ended up separated and in different foster homes. I frequently moved around a lot because I didn’t fit in or a violation was found in the home. Some homes were physically abusive, the guardians would say “If the social worker asks if you get whoopens, tell them no” and for some reason, I did.  

Other homes just took the money but didn’t take care of our needs. They pocketed the money or spent it on their own kids. They valued their own kids over the foster child. I barely had any clothes and, I went to went to bed hungry most nights. The families that actually treated us well never had enough space for all of us or parts of us. Years down the road my other sibling were adopted by permanent families. I was the only foster child left because my father still had his parental rights but he was in jail.

When my father was released from jail under special circumstances. One of the terms was house arrest. The issue had a rose that his name wasn’t on my birth certificate and, he would have to prove relations in order to receive child custody. A judge would not grant him movement to take the test and his parental rights had ended up being taken by the courts for failed appearances and child abandonment. He did have the chance to prove his paternity. I became an official ward of the state and placed in another faster home. The Goodson family had already adopted five of my siblings. I was given paperwork and I was told that the foster family can only keep me if I signed the papers. I adopted within a month.  I child 14 or older must give consent to be adopted (Adoption Consent Laws by State, 2016). I was adopted right after my 14^th birthday.

My name was changed the Christopher Goodson, it was a ruled a closed adoption. I didn’t find out until later down the line that my new mother was a lawyer and clerk for the judge that did the adoptions. I also found out that the adoption judge was right next door to the paternity court judge. I had felt betrayed by the same system that was supposed to protect me.

                References

Adoption Consent Laws by State. (2016, January 05). Retrieved from

https://www.adoption.net/a/pregnancy/adoption-planning/adoption-consent-laws-by-state/114/

Termination of parental rights. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://family.findlaw.com/parental-rights-and

liability/termination-of-parental-rights.html