Maryland and the District of Columbia prohibits a professional intermediary, often referred to as a “facilitator,” to arrange adoptions.
Maryland statutes provide for post-adoption contact through a contract. A contract for post-adoption contact will be upheld as long as it is in the adoptee’s best interest. Similar to the adoption plan, the level of post-adoption contact is negotiated. It is standard that the parties agree to periodic letters giving the birthparents information concerning the child's health and developmental progress at specific agreed upon intervals.
Maryland and the District of Columbia law permits the adopting parents to pay the medical, adoption counseling and legal expenses/fees of the birth parents. Maryland and the District of Columbia prohibits adoptive parents to pay for a birth parents living expenses, maternity clothing or any other expenses related to the pregnancy.
In all adoption cases, obtaining the birth father’s consent is ideal. However, many birth fathers do not consent to the adoption. When a birth father refuses to sign the consent, the court will issue a show cause order requiring him to demonstrate why his parental rights should not be terminated. If the birth father does not respond to the order, his parental rights will be terminated. If the birth father’s identity or location is unknown and the Court is satisfied by an affidavit by the birth mother and the reasonable good faith attempts to find him, the court will order that the birth father be notified by publication in a newspaper of general circulation where the birth father last resided as well as a posting of the notice on the Maryland Department of Human Resources. If there is no response to the publication or posting notice, the court will grant the adoption. The procedure in the District of Columbia is similar to Maryland.
In Maryland and the District of Columbia agencies will conduct post-placement investigations following placement of the child with the adopting parents. After completing the post- placement process and the agency is prepared to consent to the adoption, the adopting couple files an adoption petition. The court will have a private hearing to determine if the adopting parents are fit to adopt the child and if it is in the best interest of the child to be adopted by the petitioners. If found to be in the child’s’ best interest, the judge will then sign the final judgment of adoption. The Adoptive parents will receive a new birth certificate from the State in which the child was born within reflecting their names on the birth certificate as the child’s parents.
