Do We Have To Reside In Indiana To File Adoption Proceedings For Child Born In Indiana?
No. As of July 1, 2021, HB 1448 eliminated the residency requirement of the adoption code in Indiana, previously codified at Indiana Code 31-19-2-2, which provided that a “resident of Indiana” may file a petition for adoption in Indiana courts. With the change made by HB 1448, the statute now states that “an individual” who seeks to adopt may file a petition for adoption in those courts. Prior to July 1st, unless a non-resident sought to adopt a “hard to place” child, the non-resident would have had to file the adoption proceeding in the non-resident’s home state.
The adoption laws in Indiana rank among the best in the country, in large part, because of the bipartisan efforts of the Republicans and Democrats in the Indiana General Assembly. In fact, many, if not most, adoption bills receive near unanimous support in the General Assembly. As an example, HB 1448 passed the House 92-0 and the Senate 49-1.
Elimination of the residency requirement in Indiana gives birth mothers, if they decide to give their babies up for adoption, or more correctly, make an adoption plan for their babies, in Indiana, a wider range of families from whom to choose by making it easier to have out-of-state families adopt.
We, at Adoption Attorneys Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. (“Kirsh & Kirsh”), or the “Kirsh Boys,” as the adoption attorneys at Kirsh & Kirsh, are sometimes called – Steve, and his brothers, Joel and Rob, and his son, Grant – pride themselves on answering questions about adoption and explaining the process without pressure or judgment. They cannot make adoption an easy choice, but they can make it less scary by removing some of the unknowns. Ultimately, a birth parent will have to decide if adoption is in their own best interests and the best interests of their child. We, at Kirsh & Kirsh, will not and cannot make that decision for anyone, but we can provide information and answers to questions.
Our contact information is below. We will answer your questions and provide you the information you seek, without cost or obligation on your part. In other words, talking to us is FREE and does NOT mean you ever have to talk or text with us, again. The Kirsh Boys have 90 YEARS OF COMBINED EXPERIENCE practicing adoption law. We can help you find an AMAZING, WONDERFUL, adoptive home for your precious baby, whether you live in Franklin or Indianapolis, Columbus or Greenwood, Evansville or Corydon, or Goshen or Ft. Wayne, Richmond or Shelbyville, or any Indiana county or city in between, or ANYWHERE in Tennessee, Mississippi, or Kentucky.
We have lots of wonderful, carefully screened, loving families, FROM INDIANA AND ALL OVER THE COUNTRY (married, single, Lesbian, and Gay) who cannot wait to welcome a baby into their hearts and homes and are happy to assist with living expenses to the full extent allowed by law.
You can call, text, and or email us anytime -call: 317-575-5555, text: 317-721-2030, email: AdoptionSupport@kirsh.com, or Facebook message: https://www.facebook.com/KirshandKirsh/. We answer our office phone 24 hours a day, every single day. We try to respond to emails and text messages within minutes of receipt.
POSITIVE ADOPTION LANGUAGE DISCLAIMER: Please understand that these blog posts are written in a way to use language that people use when searching for help with their adoption plans. Unfortunately, while all of us understand what positive adoption language means, most expectant moms that come to us at first do not understand what that means. The most common search term on the Internet for expectant moms is “how do I give up my baby for adoption”. If we do not include those words in our blog posts, and instead put “how do I create an adoption plan for my baby” then our website will not show up in most expectant mom’s search results in Google.