Sometimes would-be parents will place ads in newspapers seeking women who are willing to place their babies for adoption. The ads might be placed by the adoptive parents directly or the ads might be placed by their attorney. In most states, adoptive parents are allowed to pay a biological mother's medical expenses and certain other costs during the pregnancy. But adoptive parents are not allowed to pay the biological mother specifically to give up the child. Court procedures vary from state to state, but in all states court approval is necessary for both agency and private adoptions.
Many states also require that the adoptive parents be approved by a social service agency.
Private adoptions are more complicated than unrelated adoptions. It is very important that proper consent be obtained from the biological parents. Assistance from an attorney in the state in which he adoption will take place is advisable. Biological mother's consent. The biological mother must consent to the adoption or her parental rights must have been terminated for other reasons such as abuse or neglect of the child.