Profiting from adoption
Sec. 9. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a person who,
with respect to an adoption, transfers or receives any property in
connection with the waiver of parental rights, the termination of
parental rights, the consent to adoption, or the petition for adoption
commits profiting from an adoption, a Class D felony.
(b) This section does not apply to the transfer or receipt of:
(1) reasonable attorney's fees;
(2) hospital and medical expenses concerning childbirth and
pregnancy incurred by the adopted person's birth mother;
(3) reasonable charges and fees levied by a child placing agency
licensed under IC 12-17.4 or by a county office of family and
children;
(4) reasonable expenses for psychological counseling relating
to adoption incurred by the adopted person's birth parents;
(5) reasonable costs of housing, utilities, and phone service for
the adopted person's birth mother during the second or third
trimester of pregnancy and not more than six (6) weeks after
childbirth;
(6) reasonable costs of maternity clothing for the adopted
person's birth mother;
(7) reasonable travel expenses incurred by the adopted person's
birth mother that relate to the pregnancy or adoption;
(8) any additional itemized necessary living expenses for the
adopted person's birth mother during the second or third
trimester of pregnancy and not more than six (6) weeks after
childbirth, not listed in subdivisions (5) through (7) in an
amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000); or
(9) other charges and fees approved by the court supervising the
adoption, including reimbursement of not more than actual
wages lost as a result of the inability of the adopted person's
birth mother to work at her regular, existing employment due to
a medical condition, excluding a psychological condition, if:
(A) the attending physician of the adopted person's birth
mother has ordered or recommended that the adopted
person's birth mother discontinue her employment; and
(B) the medical condition and its direct relationship to the
pregnancy of the adopted person's birth mother are
documented by her attending physician.
In determining the amount of reimbursable lost wages, if any, that are
reasonably payable to the adopted person's birth mother under
subdivision (9), the court shall offset against the reimbursable lost
wages any amounts paid to the adopted person's birth mother under
subdivisions (5) and (8) and any unemployment compensation
received by or owed to the adopted person's birth mother.
(c) Except as provided in this subsection, payments made under
subsection (b)(5) through (b)(9) may not exceed three thousand
dollars ($3,000) and must be disclosed to the court supervising the
adoption. The amounts paid under subsection (b)(5) through (b)(9)
may exceed three thousand dollars ($3,000) to the extent that a court
in Indiana with jurisdiction over the child who is the subject of the
adoption approves the expenses after determining that:
(1) the expenses are not being offered as an inducement to
proceed with an adoption; and
(2) failure to make the payments may seriously jeopardize the
health of either the child or the mother of the child and the
direct relationship is documented by a licensed social worker or
the attending physician.
(d) An attorney or licensed child placing agency shall inform a
birth mother of the penalties for committing adoption deception
under section 9.5 of this chapter before the attorney or agency
transfers a payment for adoption related expenses under subsection
(b) in relation to the birth mother.
(e) The limitations in this section apply regardless of the state or
country in which the adoption is finalized.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.208, SEC.2. Amended by P.L.117-1990,
SEC.6; P.L.2-1992, SEC.882; P.L.81-1992, SEC.39; P.L.1-1993,
SEC.241; P.L.4-1993, SEC.326; P.L.5-1993, SEC.333;
P.L.226-1996, SEC.1; P.L.200-1999, SEC.32; P.L.130-2005,
SEC.14.
Last modified: May 24, 2006