I love helping people with their adoption questions, from the emotional ones you might be scared to ask to the legal ones. I became a mom through adoption, and I am a SC attorney, so I can offer great perspective from both sides of the spectrum. Here are the four most common South Carolina adoption questions answered.
Q: Who Can Adopt in SC?
For SC residents, you have several types of adoption all with different requirements.
Of course, you have international adoption as an option. For this, you’ll go through an accredited agency. These will have their own requirements as will countries that allow adoption from the US.
Another option is to adopt through social services, which has a lot of requirements but very few costs.
Infant adoption is also available through a licensed agency in SC. Or with a properly licensed attorney you can arrange an infant adoption privately.
For all adoptions, South Carolina usually requires a home study. This will include a background check, home inspection, and a lot of personal information.
South Carolina does not currently ban people from adopting based on age, marital status, income, orientation, race, religion, or health, unlike some places. Yes, single parents and those over 55 can adopt!
The law does require you to be 18 years older than the person you are adopting. But, even this the court waives in some cases.
Many don’t know that family members can adopt relatives, even somewhat distant ones, including babies from birth. This process includes much lower requirements, including waived home study and shorter waiting periods, which also means lower cost.
For those who are taking care of family but do not wish to legally adopt, look into kinship care via a lawyer or social services office to get help with the costs and know your rights.
Also note, grandparents do not have any legal rights in family court.
Q: How Much Does Adoption Cost?
You don’t want to hear this, but it truly depends. If you adopt through social services or are adopting a relative, costs are very minimal- as in less than a tax refund TOTAL.
Sometimes employers offer help, or you can find tax refunds and grants to help. Some people host fundraisers to pay for the costs of infant adoption agency fees or foreign adoption travel costs. Some lenders also offer adoption loans. Adoptions that include a private agency – infants or international – are the most expensive.
For example, an adoption can cost you out of pocket a couple of thousand to 50k or more. Family adoptions and social services adoption can total less than $2,000 while high cost options at least 15,000 to 35,000 not being unusual. Using an attorney without an agency is a middle of the road option for price.
Q: Can a Birth Parent Change Their Mind Later? How Does the Law Work? How Final is an Adoption?
First off, both birth parents have rights, so the safest bet is to get both to consent to adoption, but it can and does occur without this.
A birth mother can NOT sign any papers in South Carolina until after the child is born. She can change her mind at any time before she signs. You cannot pay a birth mother for an adoption. But, she can ask for reasonable living expenses and healthcare costs reimbursement, and adoptive parents should expect to pay the legal fees, of course.
However, a birth mom can involve any adoptive parent she chooses in anything birth and pre birth related that she wishes. Also, this transfer of custody can happen very soon after birth, as in hours. Commonly, you get to spend time with baby in the hospital and then take them home from there.
Mom must sign Termination of Parental Rights and Transfer of Custody papers without outside influence present. This means she can’t still be under the influence of any drugs or anyone else in the room. Then, mom, or both parents, will sign these with a witness and an outside attorney. (Your lawyer should arrange someone unbiased for this). This lawyer will explain many times in front of the witness that this is final and cannot be reversed.
Therefore, you must have a lawyer, and any family law attorney can handle this.
Later, an official court hearing, which typically takes a few moments, will take place, but this is NOT an opportunity to fight over custody. It serves mostly as a formal finalization. After the judge approves the adoption, name change is automatic. In fact, you’ll even recieve a new birth certificate listing the new parents.
Importantly, once a parent signs a termination of rights, they cannot change their mind.
The only argument a court can hear is that they did not intend to sign and did not understand. But, the law’s witness and attorney requirements prevent this. In adoption from foster care, a voluntary or involuntary termination of parental rights will have to happen before an adoption can take place. Involuntary termination courts take very seriously and avoid, so make sure find out if a child is “legally free for adoption”.
Also, in every legal way, from obligation to inheriting, that child is the same as a natural child by law once an adoption is final in court.
Q: Does SC Allow Step-parent Adoptions and Name Changes?
Yes. Please see a family law attorney about this.
Finally, here is the law on adoption in SC.
