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 An adoption legally creates a parental relationship between a child and an adult. Once an adoption is finalized, the relationship between the parents and child is as if the child had been born to them and the parental rights of the biological (birth) parents are terminated. Maryland adoption statutes require that any child over the age of 10 years must consent to the adoption. In the District of Columbia any child over the age of 14 years must consent to the adoption. If the adoption is contested, the court will appoint an attorney to represent a child. Maryland statutes provide for three kinds of adoptions: private agency, public agency and independent/private. In private adoptions arrangements are made directly between the birthparents and the adopting parents. The District of Columbia also allows agency and private adoptions. In Maryland, birth parents who sign consents (which can only be signed after the baby is born) have thirty (30) days to revoke their consent. A birth parent may not revoke their consent if, in the preceding year, the parent revoked consent for or filed an objection to the adoption and the adoptee is at least 30 days old and the consent is given before a judge. After the expiration of the revocation period, a birth parent can only disrupt the adoption if they can prove their consent was obtained through fraud or under duress. In the District of Columbia, a consent to adoption may be revoked or withdrawn only after a judicial determination that the consent was not voluntarily given. Jennifer Fairfax assists in all types of adoptions in the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia.
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