Before a child can be adopted, there must be a termination of parental rights, on both birth parents. They fall into two categories.

Voluntary - This means that a parent has determined that he/she is unable to care for the child, and is willingly terminating their parental rights.

Involuntary - Generally, this occurs when a child has been removed for abuse or neglect. This is usually done through a court hearing. The parent has the option of choosing a jury trial or a bench trial.

Some parents who have had a child taken into foster care will choose to voluntarily terminate their rights, but that is not always the case.

If the parental rights have not been terminated, the child is considered legal risk. Some agencies will not terminate parental rights until an adoptive family has been found for a child.

If you are entering into adoption, being clear as to the procedure for TPR is crucial. If you feel you could not give up a child that could potentially be returned to the birth parents, you need to make it clear to your worker prior to placement or reading a child’s profile.

Losing a child can be heartbreaking. Do not set yourself up for this if you are not sure you can handle it.

Obviously, the mother of the child will be known, but what if there is a question of paternity? This would usually come into play on a much younger child. If a potential father, or fathers have been named, genetic testing will be done. The one time we had to take a child in for testing, it was a simple and painless procedure. It was done by swabbing the inside of the baby’s mouth. No painful blood draws necessary.

If the testing does not yield the name of the father, or the father’s location is unknown, the worker must try to locate the biological father. This is not always an easy task. Some parents worry that a father can come back later and have an adoption nullified because the father was not notified. There are legal steps in place to prevent this, but if you are concerned, be sure to discuss this with your worker.

The families of both birth parents are allowed to come forward and request to raise the child, even if the TPR is done. However, that does not guarantee that they will receive custody of the child. The family member must prove that they have the ability to parent the child in a safe environment.

A TPR is a legal proceeding and has several steps involved. Be sure all of your questions about TPR procedures are answered before you take placement of a child, and be clear as to whether or not visits with the biological family members will take place prior to the TPR being done. This issue can vary greatly with each child.

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