Grandma wants to adopt grandson
Dear Mrs Macaulay,
I was reading an article on adoption and hope you are able to give me some advice. I would like to know if I am able to adopt my grandson. His mother and father are both alive; his father, however, has custody of him. I am currently living in the United States (USA) and they all live in Jamaica.
You have not stated whether you are a US citizen and are domiciled there; or whether you are Jamaican by birth and are domiciled here, and merely reside currently in the USA. You also have not stated whether you are the maternal or paternal grandmother, which sometimes affects the reaction of the parents to your request to adopt.
Yes, you can adopt as a grandmother. You are a family member and your information in your application will make this relationship clear, and also the reason why you wish to adopt your grandchild. In the application form you also have to state whether you have discussed your wish and plans for the adoption with your family members, especially those with whom you reside, and what their reactions were to the adoption.
Most important of all, is for you to have spoken with the parents (one of whom is your child) and that they agree for you to adopt their child. You have to state this in your application and give their addresses and contact numbers. After you have submitted your application, you will be assigned an adoption officer who will contact the parents directly and be satisfied that they are your grandson’s parents and that they agree that you can adopt their child. This adoption officer shall advise you throughout the process what you must do next after you have submitted your application and the officer has been appointed.
You see, when an adoption application is granted by the relevant court, all the legal rights and obligations of the biological parents are passed on to the adopted parent, who becomes the child’s legal parent permanently. As a person resident in the USA, the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) instructs that you should not file an adoption petition there until after the adoption process is completed in Jamaica by the grant of your adoption order or licence by the Jamaican court.
What I’d advise you to do is to first go to the CPFSA website at childprotection.gov.jm and click on ‘adoption forms’ and download a copy for your use. The CPFSA is the only agency in Jamaica which processes all adoption applications, and the Adoption Board in it is the only body which is responsible for adoption of all children in Jamaica.
But you must first speak with your grandson and his biological parents and get their consent. If either of them withholds their consent unreasonably and your adoption would be in the child’s best interests, or as you might say, that he would have a better life with you, an application can be made to the court to dispense with that parent’s consent, so your application can go forward.
You will have an officer appointed to process your application and to assist you throughout, up to the making of the adoption order by the court.
I hope I have satisfied your request and I wish you and your grandson success and all the very best.
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. All responses are published. Mrs Macaulay cannot provide personal responses.
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.
