Wednesday, December 3, 2003
|
Wednesday, December 3, 2003 |
|
Adoption attorney from Jonesboro discusses four decades of experience By MICHAEL BOYLAN Attorney Lynn Swank has been a practicing attorney since 1974. She joined the family business after graduating with her law degree and passing the bar, and her specialty has always been adoption law. Swank has seen numerous changes in her field over the years and estimates she works on close to 80 adoption cases a year, though she rarely sees the inside of a courtroom. This, she says, is a good thing, as it means few of her cases are contested. According to Swank, there are six kinds of adoptions; private, state, agency, international, step-parent and adult. The bulk of Swank’s cases come from agency adoptions. She also stated that private, international and agency adoptions typically require a lot of assistance. The adoption process starts with a letter from prospective adoptive parents. This letter cites what they feel are their qualifications and also what they are looking for in a child. Swank recommends that this letter be given to family members, friends, members of the church and an adoption attorney. The goal of the letter is to get it in the hands of a birth mother or father who may be considering adoption. One of the problems that Swank finds herself dealing with the most is trying to find the birth father and alert him to his right to establish parental rights for the baby. This process can take at least 30 days as a notice has to be either hand-served, delivered or published as a legal notice. Another obstacle is that adoptive parents will find a birth mother before talking with an attorney and will violate state law by paying for things such as medical expenses or room and board for the mother. At this point, Swank tries to get the birth mother in with an agency that handles these expenses and also helps both the adoptive parent and the birth mother following the law. Swank has seen a tremendous rise in international adoptions. She cited the Hague Treaty of Adoptions as a piece of legislation that will dramatically affect international adoptions for the better. The treaty will level the playing field, so to speak, and will have all agencies follow the same rules. As it is now, each agency in America works with a certain country or countries, but each country’s rules are different. For instance, in Russia, the adoption is completed over there and information on the child and his or her history are extremely limited. In China, there is a wealth of information given and the process, which takes months, keeps the adoptive parents involved and in the know. The other trend with international adoption that Swank has seen is the rise in adoptions from Central and South America. This also marks a big change from when Swank started practicing, because more international adoptions means more mixed culture families. “The highest number of available children for adoption are either Asian or Hispanic,” said Swank, who has found that a high number of adoptive parents do not care what race their child is. She does feel that this is an important issue to think about, especially when it comes to how members of the family will treat the child. Another thing that is important to consider, according to Swank, is what one could handle with a child when it comes to special needs or disabilities. Swank has seen the cost of adoptions rise over the years as well. Private individual adoptions could start at $2,000-$3,000 but may increase to over $10,000 if the adoptive parents pay for the birth mother’s medical expenses. Agency adoptions may start between $9,000 and $15,000 and could climb as high as $35,000, depending on the child. The adoption process also varies greatly, ranging from 50 days if everyone consents to many months. One thing that is very distressing to Swank is the trend of birth mothers abandoning their babies at a police station or some such place. When this is done, it is hard to terminate the rights of the father, the age of the baby has to be guessed, there is no name, no medical history of the child’s parents and their relatives. “This is just a disaster in every sense,” said Swank. “Legally, medically, and psychologically, it is a disaster.” Years ago, these children could have been left at an orphanage but there are very few orphanages left in the United States. Those that remain are now considered group homes and many contain children with special needs. There are also limited homes for birth mothers to go to to have their baby. One reason for this, according to Swank, is a welfare system that has made it profitable to keep children. Despite some alarming trends, Swank still believes in adoption as a viable way to have a family. She has also seen a rapid growth in surrogacies and assisted reproductive technology. Her law office also specializes in these cases. There is a lot to think about when considering adoption and attorneys like Swank have the experience and knowledge to make the process go as smoothly as possible. To locate an adoption attorney, near you, visit www.adoptionattorneys.org. Swank can be reached at 770-477-5318 or visiting www.swanklaw.com.
|
||