A child shall not be considered to have been placed for adoption unless each of the following is true:
(a) Each birth parent placing the child for adoption has been advised of his or her rights, and if desired, has been counseled pursuant to Section 8801.5.
(b) The adoption service provider, each prospective adoptive parent, and each birth parent placing the child have signed an adoption placement agreement on a form prescribed by the department. The signing of the agreement shall satisfy all of the following requirements:
(1) Each birth parent shall have been advised of his or her rights pursuant to Section 8801.5 at least 10 days before signing the agreement, unless the adoption service provider finds exigent circumstances that shall be set forth in the adoption placement agreement.
(2) The agreement may not be signed by either the birth parents or the prospective adoptive parents until the time of discharge of the birth mother from the hospital. However, if the birth mother remains hospitalized for a period longer than the hospitalization of the child, the agreement may be signed by all parties at the time of or after the child’s discharge from the hospital but prior to the birth mother’s discharge from the hospital if her competency to sign is verified by her attending physician and surgeon before she signs the agreement.
(3) The birth parents and prospective adoptive parents shall sign the agreement in the presence of an adoption service provider.
(4) The adoption service provider who witnesses the signatures shall keep the original of the adoption placement agreement and immediately forward it and supporting documentation as required by the department to the department or delegated county adoption agency.
(5) The child is not deemed to be placed for adoption with the prospective adoptive parents until the adoption placement agreement has been signed and witnessed.
(6) If the birth parent is not located in this state or country, the adoption placement agreement shall be signed before an adoption service provider or, for purposes of identification of the birth parent only, before a notary or other person authorized to perform notarial acts in the state or country in which the birth parent is located. This paragraph is not applicable to intercountry adoptions, as defined in Section 8527, which shall be governed by Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 8900).
(c) The adoption placement agreement form shall include all of the following:
(1) A statement that the birth parent received the advisement of rights and the date upon which it was received.
(2) A statement that the birth parent understands that the placement is for the purpose of adoption and that if the birth parent takes no further action, on the 31st day after signing the adoption placement agreement, the agreement shall become a permanent and irrevocable consent to the adoption.
(3) A statement that the birth parent signs the agreement having personal knowledge of certain facts regarding the prospective adoptive parents as provided in Section 8801.
(4) A statement that the adoptive parents have been informed of the basic health and social history of the birth parents.
(5) A consent to the adoption that may be revoked as provided by Section 8814.5.
(d) The adoption placement agreement shall also meet the requirements of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children in Section 7901.
(e) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1995.
(Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 688, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2002.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018