Can I adopt my teen friend’s baby?

Dear Mrs Macaulay,

I’m 28 and I have been having trouble conceiving a child. I recently learned that both my tubes are blocked and in order to have children I would have to go through in-vitro fertilisation treatments. These treatments are very expensive. There is a friend of the family who has a daughter ,and she recently gave birth to another beautiful little baby girl but cannot afford to maintain her. She is only 18 with two children and does not know the father of either child. Upon speaking with both her and her mother, she decided to sign over her parental rights to me. What is the process of getting this done and taking the baby to Canada with me, as I am a Canadian citizen?

It is fortunate that you have identified a child whose mother wishes you to parent that child. You wish to now know how you can obtain full parental rights and obligations for this child; in other words how to become her parent in all but blood.

You must, of course, adopt the child in order to achieve this, and when this process is completed, you will in all respects, save for the biological, be the mother of the child. What then should you do to achieve this status and relationship with the child?

Firstly, you must assume, in fact, full custody, care and control of the child. This is to say she should live with you and you must care for her and provide all her necessities, whether you reside here or not. If you do not reside here, then you must visit and develop a relationship with the child and assume the provision of all her needs.

Then, as you have the mother’s and also the grandmother’s permission to assume full parental rights of the child, as you say, you can, and should with their assistance and full participation, apply to the Supreme Court for orders for the guardianship, custody, care and control of the child while your adoption application is being processed. By this means and with such orders, you will have the legal right to make all the decisions relating to the child’s welfare and upbringing and have the day-to-day care of her, and you will be able to obtain a passport for her and travel with her until all the stages for your adoption of her are completed.

So, my dear, you should assume your role as mother in the child’s life and apply to the Adoption Board at 48 Duke Street, Kingston, to adopt her, by completing and submitting a Pre-Adoption Information Form. After you submit this form and it has been reviewed, you will be informed whether or not you have been approved for further processing by the Child Development Agency (CDA). You will also be informed whether your application for the adoption of the child will be treated as an adoption or a licence proceeding.

It will be a licence matter if as a Canadian citizen you reside in Canada. If this is the case, you will have to come to Jamaica to visit and also to execute the documents for your application to the Supreme Court and to obtain the necessary documents from the Adoption Board for your application for adoption to continue to be processed. The board will also provide you with detailed information and instructions in writing about the process of adoption and what information and documents you will need to submit, and when and how they should be submitted.

The mother of the child should be advised to obtain, as soon as she can, her national identification card. She will need to produce this to the caseworker at the CDA when she is called in for an interview and to give her written consent to your adoption of her daughter. She will also have to do a statement about her inability to identify and find the father.

You will also need a current medical report and police record at the time of your application to be presented with your other required documents.

If you live here, your application may be processed as an adoption matter as is the case with resident Jamaican citizens, and it will be completed here. If you, however, reside in Canada, it will be processed and completed in Canada as a licence matter. In either case, a home study will have to be done and the report submitted.

If you are in Canada and your application is being treated as a licence matter, you will have to contact your social services department there or a licensed social worker where you reside to do the required study and to give their undertaking to supervise the placement and submit periodic reports to the Adoption Board every six weeks during the first three months of the child’s placement with you, and then every three months until the adoption is finalised. This agency or social worker will also need to recommend when your adoption can be finalised and assist with the process being completed in the court there. They must also send a notarised statement signed by you, agreeing to inform the board when the adoption is finalised.

I have just touched on certain requirements for the adoption process because, as I said, you will be provided with detailed written information and instructions by the Adoption Board. After your pre-adoption information form is reviewed and you are approved, a caseworker will be assigned to you, who would assist you with any enquiries or difficulties you may have and help to guide you through the process.

In your application for guardianship, custody, care and control of the child to the Supreme Court, the mother and grandmother can, in answer to your application and affidavit in support, respond acceding to your application. In their affidavit in reply, they should state the reason why you were chosen to parent the child, that is to say, that she is the mother’s second child at only 18 years of age; and that she does not know who the father is and where he is, and that she is not in a position to care for the child financially or otherwise. She should also relate how she got to know you and that for those reasons she considers it to be in the best interests of her child for you to be its guardian and have full custody, care and control of her while your application for adoption is being processed.

I trust I have provided you with enough information for you to be able to proceed with your plans to be the mother of this baby girl, and that you will proceed as quickly as possible while the child is still young enough that the transition will not be traumatic in any appreciable way for her.

Margarette May Macaulay is an attorney-at-law, Supreme Court mediator, notary public and women’s and children’s rights advocate. Send questions via e-mail to allwoman@jamaicaobserver. com; or write to All Woman, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5.

DISCLAIMER:

The contents of this article are for informational purposes only and must not be relied upon as an alternative to legal advice from your own attorney.