How expenses are handled if birth mothers change their mind about adoption

What happens if the birth mother changes her mind about an adoption? Longtime adoption attorney Stephen Ravel explains important logistics and what parents should know if the birth mother makes a different decision about an impending adoption.
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How expenses are handled if birth mothers change their mind about adoption

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Until the baby is born, the birth mother can't say or do or sign anything that commits her to the adoption. That only happens after the baby is born. So in thinking about how you are going to proceed with the birth mother, if she needs any kind of financial support, you have to recognize that anything that leaves your hands is gone forever. If the mother changes her mind or you as the adoptive parent changes your mind, the money is gone. For instance, in California, money given to a birth mother is considered a gift and unrecoverable. As a practical matter, these women are poor and you can't recover it. You have to make what you are providing it, when your providing it, and make sure that it's going to the purposes you want it to go for.

What happens if the birth mother changes her mind about an adoption? Longtime adoption attorney Stephen Ravel explains important logistics and what parents should know if the birth mother makes a different decision about an impending adoption.

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Stephen Ravel

Adoption Attorney

Stephen Ravel attended UC Berkley for his undergraduate degree and Santa Clara Law School for his law degree. Stephen has been an attorney since 1973, and has been involved with adoption law since 1984. He has handled over 1,300 adoptions since the start of his career. Stephen is married and has three children. His oldest child was adopted from Brazil at birth.

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