907_Group_P3

Position Paper – Part Three

Name: Andrea Siefert

We have found that people are shocked to know this problem excists. Some people don't even think revocation of consent happens. We interviewed many different couples who have adopted children and even talking about the biological parents reclaiming the child brought sadness. In an interview with on February 20th Mr. Else he states, "I've never heard of these cases before but that sounds awful. We took Isaiah home almost a year ago and he's already a part of our family. If this bill can keep biological parents from changing their minds, you have my vote". All couples shared that they would be heart broken if their adopted child had to be given back. On February 19th Mr. Schweitzer, who works for the DCFS, stated that, "The plan to require both parents consent is the proper way to go about any adoption process and should be a requirement for all states". We agree that this will help prevent cases like Baby Richard and Baby Jessica. On February 19th Mr. Morgan also agrees there is a problem and that, "dual consent is necessary to ensure the proper measures are carried out for the care of the child and to make sure everyone is in agreement about the situation". One problem that Morgan points out is the conflict that may occur with divorced parents. Other than that one point we, along with everyone we interviewed, agreed that there is a problem and this is a solution.

We were very pleased to see that everyone seemed to agree with our bill. The problem mentioned about divorced parents is very difficult to solve. In our bill it states, "If the parents are seperated or divorced, mutual consent must still be attained for the right to put the child(ren) up for adoption" We still believe that both parents need to have equal rights in the future of the children. A possible solution in this situation might be taking the parents to court if the consent is given on both sides. If the party that does not give consent can prove that they can be an adequate guardian and in the best interest of the child, the party will be given custody.