The birth grandparents, or mothers and fathers of the birth parents, have no legal standing with which to interfere with adoption proceedings. However, many birth grandparents do participate in the counseling process, and The Cradle also offers a Birth Grandparent Support Group. Adoptive parents must have a home study completed in order to become licensed foster parents, required to adopt. An adoption is not finalized until six months after a placement. This is not a time for birth parents to change their minds, but instead allows the licensing agency to make sure of the child's health and welfare in an adoptive placement.
Illinois law requires adoption records to be closed.
However, many birth and adoptive families enter voluntarily into open adoption agreements that allow for the full exchange of information.