Adoption Counseling & Legal Services
Domestic & International
Private or Agency
Step-parent, Second Parent, Independent or Re-adoption

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Advice and Counsel for Birth Parents.  We work with you early in the process when you begin to consider adoption and are making difficult choices. We provide information to assist you in placing your child with a loving and responsible adoptive family through an agency or, if you chose, a family that you have found through your own search.

Advice and Counsel for Adoptive Families.  We provide advice and counsel on the different options available to adopt a child; and, whether to work with an agency or arrange a private adoption. We will assist you in learning and understanding the different avenues available to you in locating a birth mother and father on your own.

Independent private, agency private or international adoption. We are experienced at handling private and agency adoptions and in guiding our clients through the entire process from home study through the final hearing. We have experience working with the Interstate Compact of the Placement of Children (ICPC), to assist clients in bringing their children home to Maryland or the District of Columbia from other states.

We work with parents and families on all types of adoptions, from traditional family adoption, to stepparent, single parent and lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and trans-gender adoptions.

Our work on behalf of these clients includes the following:

• For traditional families wishing to adopt domestically, we advise clients on the law and process for domestic adoptions, including the home study. We advise clients on avenues to locate birth families and the pitfalls and precautions to take when looking for a birth family. Once a birth mother chooses our clients, we advise clients regarding the relationship they develop with the birth parents, the medical reports and tests for the birth mother and unborn child, and on any other questions that may arise during the process. Once the child is born and placed with our clients, we assist clients with obtaining approval from the Interstate Compact on Placement of Children (ICPC) and in finalizing the adoption in the state of Maryland or the District of Columbia. In the event a client’s adoption is finalized in another state, we assist in locating counsel in that state.

• In domestic partner, gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and trans-gender adoptions, we advise clients on egg or sperm donor agreements, parenting agreements, guardianship documents, medical authorizations and other necessary documents to secure each partner’s parenting role until a final adoption decree is granted. We have extensive experience in finalize adoptions for the LGBT community. In the event a birth family is placing their child with a LGBT family, we work with the LGBT family to create an adoption plan with the birth family so that our client may bring the child home directly from the hospital.

• For all families wishing to adopt internationally, we help and advise the client throughout the process while they are working with agencies. We assist clients with questions and concerns raised from the initial home study until they return home with their child. Once they return home, we assist clients with obtaining a United States birth certificate through the re-adoption process as well as assist them with any questions or issues that may arise during the post-placement process.

Our adoption attorneys are licensed to practice in Maryland and Washington, D.C. Please contact us to request a consultation with one of our adoption attorneys.