Adopting my 1 yr. old brother...

[rawolfe]

Hi, and thanks for reading

I live in Texas.

I was recently informed that my father had a baby with his girlfriend, and the child has been in foster care for a while. He is 1 1/2 years old. The prosecutor who called me wants me to testify in court about my father's abuse towards me as a child, and asked if my husband and I would like to take the baby in. They are trying to terminate the rights of both parents, and mentioned that they would try to get us to adopt him eventually.

At the moment, I'm not able to get very much information from the caseworkers, as they're preparing for court and other cases and such...

My question is this... Will we have to hire a lawyer and go through the normal adoption process, or is it different for family adopting family? Also, is the process different if the child is being placed with you from CPS foster care, rather than from the parents' custody?

I have so many questions, and no one at the moment to answer them.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[jlpw11]

I am a former foster parent who gave Georgia DFCS a run for their money. They finally moved the children to another foster family and closed our home. We are in the process of trying to get them back as they are going to TPR soon. I was advised by a former judge that if we could get the mother to relinquish her rights to us before they TPR, then DFCS could not do anything about it. So if I were you, I would get your father and girlfriend to relinquish their rights to the child over to you and your husband if they do that in your state. Then at least that little boy will be with family and not put on the internet to be adopted by who knows who. Also at least your father could still see him if you see fit. My question to the pros is: Is this the same thing as an adoption or is it simply a relinquish to someone like a guardianship would be. I consulted an atty and she said it would be a simple adoption filed in superior court, but the judge used the term "relinquish her rights" and didn't mention adoption. Any help would be appreciated. She also told me between $1,500.00 to $3,500.00. Yikes, there are two children, would that be for each child? and is this something that the bio. mother and me and my husband can do at our courthouse without an atty? We don't have 7,000.00 we can put our hands on in the next two weeks. We love these children who we have been parents to for 2 years now. Thank you in advance for your advice.