While bringing a child into your family through adoption involves a number of legal transactions, an experienced family law attorney can guide you through the process.

Adoptions are divided into a variety of categories, which include:

Private Adoption - Adoptive parents arrange the adoption directly with the biological mother.

Agency Adoption - Agencies that place children with families may be public or private adoption agencies.

Open Adoption - Refers to an adoption in which the adoptive parents and biological parents may remain in communication after the adoption.

Closed Adoption - Is an adoption where the adoptive and biological parents do not know one another and no contact permitted between them and the child after adoption

Foreign Adoption - The U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service regulates the adoption of children from other countries. Foreign adoptions may be transacted privately or through an adoption agency.

Stepparent Adoption - If a parent marries again after a divorce, the new spouse may adopt the child.

Inter-family Adoption - Family members, such as brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles or grandparents may adopt a child when death, divorce or some other inability to care for the child arises.

Laws regulate the costs adoptive parents are allowed to pay biological parents. It is a crime to pay excessive money for an adoption. A lawyer experienced in family law and adoptions can protect the rights of the child, as well as the rights of the adoptive parents.

At the law firm of Meriwether & Tharp, we welcome the opportunity to discuss your adoption alternatives. To arrange a consultation, please call our office at 678-879-9000 or e-mail us at familylaw@mtlawoffice.com to schedule an appointment to meet with an attorney on our family law team. Consultations are charged at our normal hourly rate.