Today, many married couples cannot have children for various reasons. At the same time, there are mothers who, due to lack of money or an immoral lifestyle, are ready to abandon their children in the maternity hospital and abandon them.
One of the alternative solutions in such a situation - ideal for both the infertile couple and the baby itself - is the adoption of a child from the maternity hospital. However, when completing this procedure, quite a lot of difficulties and problems arise, which it is better to find out about in advance and, if possible, prepare for them.
Who can adopt an abandoned baby?
Not every person can adopt a child.
The requirements for future parents of infants are the same as for people adopting older children:
- majority;
- adoptive parents must receive a stable salary above the subsistence level;
- availability of living conditions, in terms of area and sanitary and hygienic conditions, corresponding to the norms of legislation;
- good health, absence of severe forms of disease, disability;
- no criminal record or bad habits;
- availability of a certificate of completion of foster parenting courses;
- people who were previously deprived of parental rights, failed to cope with guardianship responsibilities, or returned the child to the orphanage after adoption will not be able to take the baby;
- Adoption is not permitted if the candidates are a couple who are not legally married.
There is also a restriction on adoption for citizens of countries where there is no ban on same-sex marriage.
It is important to remember that an adopted child has exactly the same rights as natural children. He can count on receiving an inheritance, and if the parents divorced some time after the adoption, he will receive alimony, etc.
Requirements for adoptive parents
Adopting babies requires increased responsibility from both women and men. Therefore, potential adoptive parents must meet the following requirements:
- be of age,
- own housing of the required size,
- receive a stable income required for a normal life,
- have good health - this includes both physical and psychological,
- have no criminal offences,
- not have previously been deprived of parental rights; also, people who have had a similar experience in the past and returned the baby do not have the right to take the child,
- at least one of the adoptive parents must be 16 years older than the child,
- not be addicted to alcohol or drugs.
Important! Another important criterion is the lack of citizenship of a country that encourages same-sex relationships at the legislative level. Even if the couple is not married, and one of them has a passport from a similar country, the guardianship authorities have every right to refuse.
How to adopt a newborn in Russia?
People adopt infants in order to completely go through the path that all other parents go through - from the birth of a baby to his adulthood.
The newborn is completely helpless, completely dependent on the parents, which causes special closeness and mutual affection between the baby and the adoptive parents. However, adoption is a long process, so future parents will have to be patient and prepare for this procedure while waiting for their baby.
Where to begin?
The adoption procedure is step-by-step, you need to start with the following steps:
- candidates for adoptive parents must contact the guardianship and trusteeship authorities, where, after an interview, they are put in line for the abandoned infant;
- The guardianship authorities provide future parents with a referral to undergo a medical examination and a list of documents that need to be collected. All these papers are valid for 3 months, after which they will have to be collected again;
- A special commission consisting of employees of the guardianship authorities comes to the adoptive parents and checks the living conditions of the future parents and their suitability for a comfortable life for the child.
What documents are needed?
The list of documents issued by the guardianship authorities is quite large. It takes a lot of time to collect all these papers, so you need to start early.
The list includes the following documents:
- passports of future parents - originals and copies;
- application to the guardianship authorities;
- autobiography of both adoptive parents;
- certificate of passing a medical examination. You cannot adopt a child if you have disability groups I, II, infectious, oncological, or psychiatric diseases;
- certificate of the child’s health;
- certificate of salary of both parents;
- title documents for the place of residence - purchase and sale or rental agreement;
- characteristics from the place of work;
- marriage certificate;
- certificate of registration, that is, an extract from the house register about people registered in this housing;
- written consent to adoption of all family members over 10 years of age living with future parents;
- extract from personal account (SNILS);
- certificate of no criminal record;
- certificate of training at a training school for foster parents.
If only one of the spouses is involved in the registration, it is necessary to provide a power of attorney for adoption from the second spouse, certified by a notary.
While the collection and processing of papers is ongoing, the guardianship authorities may request additional documents, which will also need to be collected. When a child is adopted by a single person, he is subject to the same requirements as spouses, that is, he must provide the same package of documents, except for a marriage certificate.
Drawing up a statement of claim
Guardianship authorities usually review the submitted documents for about 2 weeks, after which they make a decision allowing or prohibiting the applicants from adopting a child. If the decision is positive, you can proceed to the next stage of the procedure - filing a claim with the judicial authorities.
The application is drawn up according to the sample, it must indicate:
- name, address of the court where the application is submitted;
- passport details of the adoptive parents;
- information about the child indicating the reasons for adoption;
- a request for adoption, change of the child’s last name, first name and patronymic, and also, at the request of the parents, to change the date and place of birth.
The application must be completed correctly and without errors.
Expert opinion
Maria Lokshina
Family law expert since 2010
The law allows you to postpone the date of birth for up to three months - before or after the baby’s actual birthday.
Time limits for consideration of the case and execution of the court decision
The time frame for consideration of adoption cases in court reaches up to 2 months. Although judges, as a rule, try to resolve this issue faster, since it is in the interests of the child. On average, the procedure takes from a week to a month.
A court hearing is then scheduled at which the final decision on adoption is made. The court hearing is closed, attended only by the adoptive parents, guardianship officials, and the prosecutor.
The decision comes into force after 10 days, during which those who disagree can appeal it. If the court’s decision is positive, three days after the meeting, an order is sent to the civil registry office to change the baby’s personal data in the documents.
Often guardianship representatives offer foster parents to organize a simulated discharge of the mother and child from the maternity hospital, with photos and videos. This is done to maintain the secrecy of adoption. You can also obtain a postpartum sick leave certificate at the maternity hospital, on which the day the court decision enters into legal force is indicated as the date of discharge from the hospital.
The queue for the adoption of infants from the maternity hospital
There are even more people who, for various reasons, decided to adopt than the abandoned children themselves.
That's why there is a queue for them. Registration of abandoned children in the queue for subsequent adoption is the responsibility of the guardianship and trusteeship authorities. In large cities there are entire databases of babies who can be adopted. In addition, the guardianship authorities compile a register of potential parents, trying to provide maximum assistance to both the children and the adoptive parents.
The employees of this institution do everything anonymously, since the law imposes criminal liability for disclosing the secret of adoption. The queue can be natural, which includes all newborns who refuse.
It is intended for those parents who are ready to foster any child, regardless of gender, nationality, hair color, etc. Children are quickly selected for such adoptive parents. As soon as the next unfortunate mother abandons her child in the maternity hospital, they can begin the adoption process.
But more often, people try to choose children of a certain genotype, so that the child is at least a little like his adoptive parents in skin, hair, and eye color. It takes such adoptive parents more than one month to find their baby.
Guardianship authorities form several queues, where children are divided by nationality and genotype. This helps to immediately provide potential parents with a list of those children who suit them best in appearance.
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Abandonment of a child in the maternity hospital
Adopt a child
According to statistics, cases of child abandonment occur quite often. The reasons for refusing are:
- Pregnancy at an early age. The parents of the young mother persuade her not to take on the burden of responsibility.
- Studying at a higher educational institution. A baby can interfere with your future career.
- Congenital pathology. Caring for a disabled person requires a lot of time and effort; not everyone is able to devote themselves entirely to raising such a child.
- Material or housing problems. It happens that a single mother simply has nowhere to go after the maternity hospital.
- Drug or alcohol addiction.
In the future, abandoned children from the maternity hospital will face either a new foster family or an orphanage. The demand for such adoption is great, so most find a new home in the first six months of life.
