Can I Keep My Adoption Completely Private?

By: Grant Kirsh

For some women, privacy is not a preference. It is a necessity. Maybe you have not told your family about the pregnancy. Maybe your community would not understand. Maybe your safety depends on discretion. Whatever your reason, you may be wondering: can I place my baby for adoption without everyone finding out?

The honest answer is that an Indiana adoption can be very private, with a few important legal caveats. At Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., a family-run Indiana adoption law firm with nearly 50 years of experience, here is how privacy really works.

How Private the Process Can Be

Everything you share with us is confidential, and adoption cases in Indiana are closed, confidential cases that are not open to the public to be searched. You can handle most of the process by phone, text, email, and video. You never have to come to our office, and any in-person meeting can be postponed until later in the process. We work around your schedule, including evenings and weekends, and we answer our phones 24/7/365.

You choose how much the adoptive family knows about you. Closed adoption, where no identifying information is shared and there is no contact, is your choice, not the family’s. If you want a fully closed adoption, we will honor that. If you want updates without sharing your identity, contact can flow through our office. You will almost certainly never have to step foot in a courtroom, so there is no public moment where you must appear.

Who Does Not Have to Know

Legally speaking, your parents do not have to know about the adoption, even if you are a minor. Your friends do not have to know. Your employer does not have to know. Your community does not have to know. We do not contact anyone in your life without your permission.

The Honest Caveats

There are two areas where the law limits total secrecy, and you deserve the truth about both.

The first is the father. Indiana law has notice requirements for certain fathers. Whether the father must be notified depends on his legal status, whether paternity has been established, and whether he has registered with the putative father registry. Many uninvolved fathers are never entitled to personal notice, and if a putative father fails to register within the deadline in Indiana Code 31-19-5-12, his consent can become irrevocably implied. But we will not pretend every situation allows the father to be kept completely in the dark. When you call, we will look at your exact facts and tell you honestly what the law requires.

The second is your husband, if you are married. Indiana law presumes a husband is the legal father, so his rights must be addressed even if he is not the biological father. We wrote a separate post about telling your husband or partner.

Privacy and Your Child’s Future

One gentle thought. Even in a fully closed adoption, you can leave your child a gift that costs you nothing in privacy: your medical history and background information, shared through us. Your child’s doctors will thank you for it someday.

Whether you are in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend, Carmel, Fishers, Bloomington, Hammond, Gary, Muncie, Lafayette, Terre Haute, Kokomo, Anderson, or Greenwood, your privacy will be protected here. Our services are 100% free to you.

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

For a complete overview of your options, read our guide: Your Options With an Unplanned Pregnancy in Indiana.

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.