Refused children in maternity hospitals: up to what age and further fate. Child abandonment. Baby house. Adoption

Family law > Adoption > How to adopt a child from a maternity hospital?

The question of how to adopt a child from a maternity hospital is most relevant for those families whose lives have developed in such a way that they cannot have their own children. Therefore, most of all they want to take babies who have just been born.

Parents wait for months, or even years, to adopt a newborn, as the waiting list is huge and does not come quickly.

In order to adopt a child, you need to collect certain documents and contact the guardianship authorities. If a couple is considered suitable to be the adoptive parents of a baby, they will receive consent. The family will have a small addition that they have been waiting for so long.

Unfortunately, quite often young mothers abandon their newborn babies in maternity hospitals.

The reasons for such actions may be different:

1. Pregnancy at an early age. When the parents of a minor mother fear for her reputation and insist that she abandon the child.
2. Studying at a university, when the mother prefers her own development, career and does not think at all about the fate of the abandoned baby.
3. Birth trauma or other pathology, as a result of which the child is born with abnormalities.
4. Low income and lack of own housing.
5. Alcoholism, drug addiction.

In the future, new families or, in the worst case, orphanages await such refuseniks.

Candidates for adoptive parents must be firmly convinced that they need a child from the maternity hospital whom they can make happy.

In this case, you need to go to the guardianship authorities to obtain permission to adopt a newborn baby.

Is it possible to adopt a newborn baby from a maternity hospital?

If a woman does not want to pick up her child after giving birth, she can leave him in the maternity hospital. All the days before discharge, crisis center specialists will offer her options for solving her problems so that she can pick up the child. But some women still issue a refusal.

Opt-out options:

1. After giving birth, the woman filed an application for abandonment of the child.
2. The woman was discharged before the baby. If within 3 days after the child is ready for discharge, the mother does not come for him, then an act of abandonment in the medical organization is drawn up.
3. The woman gave birth without a passport and left the maternity hospital without the child.

If the child’s mother has issued a refusal, then specialists should offer the opportunity to pick up the child to the father. This is possible if the woman was married and presented her passport at the maternity hospital.

If the child's mother died during childbirth, the guardianship department will look for the child's relatives. The child will be put up for adoption if all relatives write a refusal.

It is possible to adopt a newborn child from a maternity hospital if the mother or both parents abandoned him. This is a situation that gives the child the status of “left without parental care.” This means that the guardianship department must find him a new family.

In what cases are babies adopted?

The reasons why a person or a married couple may want to adopt a child who has recently been born can be very different. Most often this is:

• Understanding that it is easier to start parenting in infancy than in adulthood.
• The desire to hide the fact of adoption from the child.
• Fear that an adult, fully aware of what is happening, a child with a formed worldview and character will not want or be able to become part of a new family.
• Concerns about the emotional and psychological health of a child who understands that he was born in a dysfunctional family and feels abandoned and betrayed.
• The desire to be with your baby from the first days of his life.
• Understanding the importance of establishing emotional contact with a child in infancy.
• The reason for adoption itself is usually either the inability to become parents of natural children, or the desire to do a good deed and give family happiness and well-being to someone else’s baby.

Algorithm of actions: how to adopt a newborn child from the maternity hospital

Adoption is a procedure that is regulated by Ch. 19 RF IC and ch. 29 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, and a number of requirements are presented to the adoptive parent.

To accept a child into a family, you must follow the following algorithm:

1. Get a conclusion.
2. Pick up a child.
3. Apply for adoption through the court.

From the moment the court decision enters into legal force, the adoptive parent and the adopted child legally become one family. They receive mutual rights and responsibilities similar to those of the biological family.

How to adopt a child from an orphanage? Step-by-step instruction

How to adopt your own child from your common-law wife? Step by step order

Benefits for adopted children

The state supports families with children financially and socially, and even more so with adopted children. For this purpose, in addition to the standard maternity and child care payments for any parents, additional incentives are provided.

All payments can be divided into one-time and regular, as well as federal and regional.

Therefore, the final amounts will depend not only on the minimums and maximums established at the state level, but also on the nuances of the subsidizing policy adopted in each specific region.

If you are interested in the details of the issue, we suggest that you read our article “Benefits for an adopted child.”

How to find a child?

The only way to take a child from the maternity hospital is to stand in line at the guardianship department at the location of the maternity hospital. It is better to choose small regional centers. Abandoned children rarely appear in them, but there are even fewer candidates for adoptive parents. Most citizens in such settlements want to take the child into custody or into a foster family.

The more such district centers you visit and apply for registration, the higher the chances of finding the baby.

Guardianship departments do not register documents sent by email, mail, or fax. You must attend a personal appointment.

Popular mistakes of adoptive parents

Families who want to adopt a child from a maternity hospital often make the following mistakes:

1. They are not collecting documents because they are waiting for the baby to appear. The procedure for collecting documents and obtaining an opinion takes 1-2 months. And the child will be given for adoption to candidates who registered earlier.
2. We received a conclusion from the guardianship department that it was impossible to become a candidate and stopped trying. The commission from the guardianship department can be subjective. Therefore, you can always try to challenge the conclusion about impossibility in court. The courts often accommodate candidates.
3. Forgot to update documents. Documents have a validity period. You cannot receive a referral with an expired conclusion, income certificate or medical certificate.
4. They are trying to negotiate on forums to buy a newborn baby from a pregnant woman. Selling and buying children is a criminal offense. Every year there are 3-4 trials of citizens who tried to buy children.
5. They find out about the child in the maternity hospital and impulsively decide to adopt him. First you will have to go through the training and preparation of documents. There is no need to be upset, but this child will definitely not be taken away.

Requirements for adoptive parents

Only those people who have positive characteristics, stable work and salary, and suitable living space for raising a child can act as adoptive parents.

A special commission in the guardianship and trusteeship authorities will review the package of documents and make a conclusion, which will be transmitted to potential adoptive parents in writing.

Before adopting a child from a maternity hospital, citizens should familiarize themselves with the requirements for candidates.

To obtain permission to adopt, a married couple must:

1. Have consent to adoption.
2. Reach the age of majority.
3. Have a stable income, which in total exceeds the subsistence level.
4. Live in a house or apartment that meets the requirements for space and general condition.
5. Have good health, both physical and psychological.
6. Have no criminal record.
7. Don't have bad habits.
8. Gather relevant documents for the trial.
9. Not a citizen of the United States or other countries where same-sex marriage is legal.
10. Do not be deprived of parental rights, adoptive parents who returned the child or guardians who were deprived of this title.

The requirements for adoptive parents of infants are no different from the requirements for adoptive parents of older children.

Video: Conditions for adopting a child in Russia

What documents are needed?

The first step in the adoption process is collecting documents. The list of documentation is established by Government Decree No. 275 of 2000.

Documents for the adoptive parent

If documents are submitted by a married couple, then this list is collected by each spouse.

The law establishes requirements for candidates based on income level. A married couple must have an income that exceeds the regional subsistence level for each family member + potential adopted child.

In addition, the candidate must have living space

Moreover, it does not matter whether it is owned or leased. There are no legal requirements for space

Therefore, if the guardianship department refuses to issue an opinion due to insufficient housing space, the spouses can challenge the decision in court.

An exception is the situation if citizens are ready to accept a disabled child or a minor with HIV infection into their family. In this case, the guardianship department has the right to demand the provision of a separate room.

Can they refuse?

Often the refusal is due to the fact that applicants were unable to attend an interview with a government psychologist. During training, the adoptive parent is offered to undergo a voluntary psychological examination. The conclusion that the state psychologist makes may not be in favor of the adoptive parent. For example, the conclusion will indicate that parental competencies are not yet sufficiently developed. The document is transferred to guardianship and may serve as a reason for refusal.

Government officials look at a couple who wants to take a baby from their bell tower, often have negative experiences, see situations where children are returned, and they are forced to adapt to life in an orphanage again. Therefore, the results of interviews with parents are often disappointing.

If the list of required documents does not include a conclusion on undergoing a voluntary examination by a psychologist, then guardianship specialists do not have the right to demand it.

It is also important to properly prepare for the visit of guardianship specialists - to show that the living conditions are suitable for the child, and family members have a positive attitude towards the arrival of the baby

Application to court

The third step in the adoption process is the application to the court.
Such an application is submitted by the adoptive parents themselves and representatives of the guardianship authorities. It should be noted that it is impossible to adopt a child without a court decision. For the Russian Federation this is a mandatory procedure. In essence, this is a strict formality that allows the court to make a positive decision on adoption. The court procedure itself is closed to maintain anonymity and conceal the fact of adoption. In this case, the following must be present at the trial:

• judge;
• representatives of guardianship authorities;
• adoptive parents;
• prosecutor.

In cases where the court decision is negative, you can go to court again, but this time to higher authorities.

What to do after meeting your child?

After the guardianship authorities have introduced the potential adoptive parents to the baby, the parents, for their part, have the right to a medical examination of the baby.
First you need to study your medical record. If necessary, additional tests are ordered. Standard procedures are carried out free of charge; each region has its own rules. The fact is that there are a number of diseases that appear only over time. And if parents are not ready to face them in the future, these tests should be carried out immediately at the time of adoption.

The decision on whether you are ready to adopt a child is valid for 3 months for the guardianship authorities. During this time, you can refuse your choice. If there are no doubts left, a statement is prepared, which, in addition to the request for adoption, indicates:

• desired first name, middle name, last name;
• the need to change the baby's name;
• the need to change the place and date of birth.

Such data will be needed in cases where adoptive parents want to keep the fact of adoption secret, which is permitted by law.
The date of birth changes within 3 months before and after the actual birth of the baby.

Legislative regulation

Adoption is an important and responsible option for accepting a child into a new family, which proceeds exclusively through the courts with the parallel consent of the prosecutor’s office and guardianship authorities.

It is enshrined in legislation:

1. Chapter 19 of the RF IC – lays down the general concepts, conditions and fundamental provisions relating to the adoption of a child;
2. Federal Law of April 16, 2001 No. 44-FZ, which regulates the procedure for creating and updating a data bank containing information about children left without parents. Such information is strictly protected by law and is a secret; its disclosure entails prosecution;
3. Federal Law No. 62 of May 31, 2002, concerning provisions on citizenship. Comes into force if the child is a citizen of a foreign state, and the parents live in Russia and have the appropriate citizenship. The same law will apply in the opposite situation.
4. Provisions of international law - various Conventions, Agreements, Protocols, Treaties between states.