An Adoption Petition must be filed in the Circuit Court of the county or city where the Petitioners live. However, if the child was placed by an agency, the petition may be filed in the county or city where the agency is located. An exception to this...
In Virginia, fathers and mothers have the same legal rights, and a birthfather has the same rights as a birthmother. However, these rights can greatly diminish if the birthfather has not played an active role in the child's life. Virginia Adoption Law...
In Virginia Adoption Law, birth fathers have full parental rights. Consequently, a birth mother has no legal right to conceal the identity of the birth father. They must either consent to the adoption in writing or be served with notice of the...
In Virginia Adoption Law it is not necessary for a birth father to be named on the birth certificate to acquire parental rights. If he is the biological father, than he still has parental birth rights to the child.
If the man whom the birth mother identifies under oath as being the birth father denies paternity, he may sign a Denial of Paternity. This is just as effective as a signed Consent. However, it will be necessary to search the Virginia Putative Father...
An adoptive placement is a conscious decision to give a child to new parents for the purpose of being adopted by them. It's unfortunate that many people still use the words, "giving up a child." An adoptive placement is not an abandonment of a child. ...
Sometimes a birth mother does not know the full identity of the birth father. However, it is also important to understand that a birth mother may be reluctant to identify the birth father because of various emotions, such as shame or fear, and may simply deny...
