Court Opinion

ID: 9699978
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 21:01:56.148749+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:01.303855
License: Public Domain

Sullivan, J.
(concurring). I am in full agreement with the majority opinion but wish to make the following observations. Our Adoption Act permits a parent to make a private placement of a child for adoption but then requires that in such case, as one of the prerequisites to adoption, the court make a finding that the parent has “forsaken parental obligations.” This is a misnomer. In my opinion, the Legislature has misconceived the real issue. The question is not whether the parent has forsaken parental responsibility but rather whether the parental surrender was voluntary with full knowledge and understanding of the consequences.
I think that all placements for adoption should be required to be through an approved adoption agency. However, as long as the statute permits private placements, it should at least articulate what the real issue is. Moreover, in the case of a private placement, I would give the parent the absolute right, within a reasonable time as fixed by the Legislature, to void the surrender and recover the child back.