How Can You Adopt Your Sister's Kids?
Adoption rules can be very strict, and the adoption process can be a long and grueling one that involves a lot of patience, time and money. Whether you are adopting domestically or internationally the process is just as time-consuming. Adoption laws tend to differ greatly from state to state, so your adoption process time can vary. Adopting from a family member is known as a relative adoption and is thought to be a less formal process when compared with non-relative adoption. However, it is still a long process and involves many steps.
The Process
The first thing you must do if you plan on adopting your sister's children is to find an adoption attorney so that you become familiar with the adoption rules in your state. The birth parents must then terminate their parental rights, and new birth certificates will be issued. One reason that a relative adoption is considered to be less formal than a "stranger" adoption is because a relative adoption involves either an abbreviated home study, or no home study at all. You will then need to process all of the usual adoption papers. Be sure that you follow the adoption law according to your state and file the correlating documents in a timely manner. Filing the correct paperwork will ensure that the adoption is legal. You should also make a written and verbal contract with the biological parents that he or she will keep the adoption private and not tell the children about it until either you want them to or until the children are old enough to understand. Once the adoption is complete, the adoption records will then be sealed in agreement with each state's adoption laws. Depending on the situation, you need not deprive the birth parents of seeing the children unless it is dangerous to do so.
Considerations
While a relative adoption may seem like a great idea and allow the family to be together, you may face some difficult times after the adoption is complete. You may be reminded of the adoption every time you see the birth parents and there may be a parent shadowing that occurs. Parent shadowing happens when the birth parents also try to parent the children. To stop this from occurring, before the adoption you should have an open conversation about parenting the children and basic rules. Explain that you do not want to confuse the children and that it is best for them if they only have one set of parents to parent them. This may be hard at first and if it continues to be challenging you may want to consider going to group therapy to help everyone better deal with the situation.
Tags: birth parents, relative adoption, Adopt Your, Adopt Your Sister, adoption complete