Legal Question in Family Law in South Carolina

Re: independent adoption

First, you want to find an attorney that has the ability to deal with all the players in an adoption. This obviously includes the birth mother, potentially the birth father, grand parents, and other family members. Remember this is a stressful time for almost everyone; and emotions run high and hot sometimes. I have seen several adoption almost go south because of poor interpersonal skills on the part of the attorney. This of course adds to the potential adoptive parent's stress level. Because you will put a lot of time, money, and energy into the adoptions process, you want to minimize your stress as much as possible.

Second, you want an attorney who is willing to go the extra mile to make the transfer of the child from the hospital to you or from the birth parent to you move smoothly and to maximize the potential for the adoption to occur.

Last, you want an attorney that understands the adoption statutes. Because of the sensitivity of adoption, the attorney will need to ensure that everything has been done to make the judge and the Guardian ad litem (the child's advocate) feel comfortable with allowing you to adopt the child.

Good luck and God bless.

Russell