Your Rights as a Birth Mother in Indiana: What the Law Says When You Place a Baby for Adoption

By: Grant Kirsh

If you are thinking about giving your baby up for adoption in Indiana, one of the most important things you can do is understand your rights. The adoption process in Indiana is built with legal protections for you. These protections exist for a reason — because you matter in this process, and your rights matter.

At Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., we have been helping Indiana birth mothers understand their rights for over 40 years. We are a family-run law firm based in Indiana, and we believe that every expectant mother — whether she is in Indianapolis, South Bend, Fort Wayne, Evansville, Bloomington, Muncie, or a small town anywhere in this state — deserves to know exactly where she stands.

You Cannot Be Asked to Sign a Consent to Adoption Until After Birth

This is one of the most important protections in Indiana adoption law. No matter what conversations you have had, what families you have met, or what assistance you have received during your pregnancy — you cannot legally consent to adoption until after your baby is born.

Anyone who pressures you to sign before your baby is born is violating Indiana law. Do not let it happen.

You Have the Right to Change Your Mind Before Consent

Before you sign the legal consent to adoption, you can change your mind at any time — about the family, about the plan, or about adoption altogether.

Receiving financial help during your pregnancy does not obligate you. Choosing a family does not obligate you. Meeting with an attorney does not obligate you. Even going to the hospital with a plan in place does not obligate you.

You are the parent of your child until the moment you sign the consent. Indiana law is clear on this.

Independent Legal Counsel — At No Cost to You

Indiana law does not require that birth mothers have independent legal representation in the adoption process. At Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., we were the first in Indiana to make it standard practice to offer it anyway. If you want your own attorney — someone who represents you and only you, not the adoptive family — we require the adoptive parents to pay for it. It is your choice whether to have one; it is not the adoptive family’s choice whether to pay for it if you do.

We are very proud to be the first adoption professionals in Indiana to offer expectant mothers this protection as a regular part of our practice. Your attorney’s job is to make sure you understand every document you sign, that you are not being pressured, and that your rights are protected at every step.

You Have the Right to Counseling

You are entitled to receive counseling as part of the adoption process. This includes support before placement, as you work through your decision — and after placement, as you process the emotional experience of what you have been through.

The cost of counseling is typically covered as part of the financial assistance provided by the adoptive family. If emotional support is not being offered to you, ask for it. A trustworthy adoption professional will make sure you get it.

You Have the Right to Choose the Adoptive Family.

In a private adoption in Indiana, you have the right to choose who raises your child. You are not assigned a family. You review profiles, ask questions, and make the decision that feels right to you.

This is a significant right, and it is one that many women are surprised to have. Use it thoughtfully.

You Have the Right to Be Fully Informed

Every document you sign in this process should be explained to you completely — in language you can understand — before you ever put pen to paper. If something is not clear, ask. That is what your independent attorney is there for.

You should never feel confused or rushed at any step.

After You Sign the Consent

Once you have signed the consent to adoption in Indiana, there is no automatic revocation period. There is a 15-day window in which you may attempt to withdraw your consent, but this is very difficult to do and is not a true revocation period. Once signed, your consent is effectively final. This is why it is so important that when and if you do sign, you are doing so with full understanding, a clear mind, and genuine peace with your decision.

We Put Your Rights First

At Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., protecting birth mothers’ rights is not just something we talk about — it is something we have been doing for over 40 years. Our family firm has guided birth mothers from cities and communities all across Indiana through this process with honesty, care, and deep respect for what they are going through.

We are not a national company with a phone number that routes to somewhere else. We are here — in Indiana — and we answer when you call.

Call or text us at 800-333-5736.
Visit us at IndianaAdoption.com. Everything is free and confidential.

About the Author
Grant Kirsh is a second-generation adoption attorney and owner of Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., a family law firm in Indianapolis, Indiana that has been serving Indiana families since 1981. Grant graduated from Indiana University McKinney School of Law in 2013 and has personally handled nearly 3,000 foster care adoptions and his law firm has handled over 5,000 private newborn adoptions. He practices all forms of domestic adoption, with a deep personal commitment to expectant mothers considering adoption in Indiana and Indiana’s foster care system and the families and children it serves.