hospital adoptions

What is the name of your state? ms
i am a social worker at a major hospital in ms. recently i was asked to assist in paperwork for an adoption-the patient came through the er in labor and was moved up to the floor. she told the doctor that she wanted to put the baby up for adoption. a nurse entered the room and stated that she wanted the patients baby. i was asked to assist with paperwork-the situation made me very uncomfortable and i questioned the legal aspects. i was told that this is legal and i was written up for refusing to assist with the paperwork. i refused for reasons involving legal and professional ethics.
the 2 parties had never met-no attorney had been contacted-my question is-can a hospital employee ask a patient for the child they want to put up for adoption?

Well, I'm an international adoptor, and we went through significant scrutiny prior to being allowed to adopt. Actually, all parties in our household id, which is not necessary for bioparents. Personally, I'd like to see ALL parents look themslelves over so thouroughly and really think about whether they are financially, emotionally and otherwise competent to properly parent a child before they embarked on such a journey, but that's another issue.

I do not know really. This nurse had no prior relationship with this party and likely should be entitled to the same rights as anyone else. Did she ASK, or was an offer made and she then requested the opportunity to be the person the biomother named? I don't know that they can legally complete a non-related adoption without the homestudy, etc., anyway. Even when we readopted in our state of residence AFTER our international adoption was considered legally final and our daughter was ours, we STILL needed the post placement report and SW testimony.

This is absolutely an outrage to me! Nursing staff does not get "first dibs" on a child! Homestudies need to be done first! Did this nurse take this baby home? I UGE you to contact a supervisor, health and human services and an attorney IMEDIATELY!

Sure, a homestudy should have been done. The adoption will not be completed until it is.

One thing that has always struck me as ironic is that us adoptive parents are presumed incompetant or dangerous until a homestudy proves other wise, but if a woman can make a baby, she is presumed competant and safe until a homestudy proves otherwise. I was no more (and actually less) competant when I gave birth to my first child almost 20 years before my daughter came to us. With my first child, I needed no homestudy, with my second, I did. Woman take home babies from the hospital every day with no home study, and likely a number of them are totally incapable of parenting the child they are taking home. Just because a woman has a working uterus doesn't make her any more capable than a woman who doesn't have one that works right.

nextwife, you are correct, but I will tell you this, when you turn a life you gave over to someone else to take care of, you will have less reservation about it knowing they are a "good" family! I can tell you from experience what HELL a family can be that takes a child home without doing a homestudy! I can also tell you what HELL a family can be even after passing a homestudy.

That is just part of the whole process I guess.

I fail to understand what the problem is. If the nurse wanted to adopt the baby and the mother said it was OK, then it's OK. The nurse doesn't have to go through the 'adoption system' and neither does the mother of the infant. The mother had the right to choose an adoptive parent without involving any agency for home reviews, etc.
Once the adoption gets to court, if the judge wants a home review, then the judge will order a home review. I'll bet the whole procedure flows quickly through the court and the adoption is approved on the first court appearance.
Some people just get lucky and it isn't a 'crime'.

The issue at hand is whether or not the employee, the social worker, was improperly disciplined by her employer.

The social worker was instructed to perform her duty as an employee of the hospital on the behalf of a patient and at the request of the patient. She is lucky to not have been terminated for insubordination.

Well let me say this, my best friend placed her child up for adoption. The child was taken home by her doctor. A social worker contacted the doctor because he apparently was NOT allowed to take the child home until he had passed a homestudy! Now in my situation I will say that I handed a child over to a couple I thought was perfect, they said the home study was done and it wasn't! I got my child back because they failed the homestudy AND they refused follow the legal procedure for adoption.

Now this is in my state of course. Every state is different, but I think the posters concerns are very valid. I wish she would come back and answer some questions. I would like to know if these papers were signed in front of a notary and what exactly these papers were. How many times have you seen a hospital turn over a baby to someone who is not the legal parent (unless of course there was complications and baby went home before mom)? Here they won't do it unless the proper paperwork has been filed in court or is in the process of being filed.

Oh and let me add one more thing. I am also adopted. My bmom just told the nurse she couldn't keep me. That nurse just happened to be my amom's sister. My mom and dad were allowed to come see me, but they could not take me home until my mom signed away her parental rights and the lawyers had been contacted.

I also want to say that I don't see anything wrong with this poster not wanting to engage in an act she may think is illegal. I would consider legal action if she had gotten fired for it, but the write up I would just ignore. If they ever throw it in your face, then they are cowards! How many of us would sign some legal papers at your work involving an infant without understanding what the paperwork was?

The social worker wasn't asked to approve and make official any adoption. More likely than not, she was asked to assist in completing paperwork to start the adoption process and to let the nurse take the baby home with her, per the mother's request and consent.

The last baby that we fostered until her adoption ended up in our care much the same way. I went to the hospital for a totally different reason and came home with a foster baby. The social worker at the hospital was the one who brought the papers and the witnesses and completed the paperwork; it's part of her job.

MY point, ryrysmom, was that BIOPARENTS take THEIR kids home, with no competance or capability every single day with no concern for the environment that child is entering. You know what kind of stories parents post about the actions and history of whomever they are complaining about, which is usually a bioparent. It is very sad, but abuse and neglect is actually statistically more likely at the hands of bioparents and their SOs than at the hands of adoptive parents. Thus being able to make a baby makes one no more competant a parent than those who cannot make a baby. Possibly this nurse was already in preliminary paper chase of an adoption and had already completed or nearly completed the homestudy when this opportunity arose. Many who are doing international adoptions must have completed the dossier before they can get a referral, and even then might wait a year or more for a child to come home. Our girl waited 10 months at the orphanage after we first went there and submitted our dossier to adopt her. Had another adoption situation occured after that and we wanted a second child, we already had a home study and would have been considered perfectly capable to bring a child home.

And yes, I do resent being treated as though I should be considered INCAPABLE until I prove myself capable just because I can't carry a baby, and some crack smoking 16 year old can take a baby home with no question because she can carry one? I'm likely the better prepared and more responsible mom.

ellencee said:

The social worker wasn't asked to approve and make official any adoption. More likely than not, she was asked to assist in completing paperwork to start the adoption process and to let the nurse take the baby home with her, per the mother's request and consent.

The last baby that we fostered until her adoption ended up in our care much the same way. I went to the hospital for a totally different reason and came home with a foster baby. The social worker at the hospital was the one who brought the papers and the witnesses and completed the paperwork; it's part of her job.

Click to expand...

But ellencee, you are approved to be a foster parent.

nextwife, no bioparents can take there kids home without any form of competancy test HOWEVER many children who are placed for adoption are placed because of unfit parents. So do you really think it is necessary not to check out the new foster or adoptive parents? I mean would you just like to hand over a child to anyone. Imagine it was YOUR child you were handing over, if someone off the street came up to take them would you say, "okay here".

I am the social worker that intially posted this string-the baby tested positive for cocaine-if hospital policy had been followed mother, baby, and adoptive parents would have been made aware of this prior to adoption. Because an adoption that took place-that was not hospital policy -mother is gone-no charges....baby may not be wanted, and the adoptive parents are angry-despite the fact that the nurse arranged the adotpion with out first contacting the social worker.
Those of you that have replied clearly do not understand policy and the obligation social workers, counselors...have to be as ethical as possible to all concerned. YOur lack of understading greatly concerns me.
Despite this-No child deserves to be passed around-and no adoptive parent deserves not knowing what they are up against-Due to all of this I was not disciplined-however the hospital has formed an ethics committe to look into staff-patient adoptions-which least of all conflict with the ethical principle of patient client relationships.....
I strongly sugest those of you that believe this was all hunky dory brush up on policy, ethics, and legalities surrounding adoption.

Good lord, there are more twists and turns. All this info should have been posted in your first post. Have you done anything about this situation? I hope so. You made it sound like the nurse wanted to adopt the baby so she took it home to adopt, not took it home and gave it to someone else. To me that is even worse!

BTW, I didn't say it was all hunky dory, I believe i told you it was wrong and that you needed to contact the authorities or at least an attorney.

But ellencee, you are approved to be a foster parent.

Click to expand...

Yes, but it wasn't through the foster parent/DSS program. The family asked me if I would take the baby. I met with the mother and she asked me if I would take the baby. I took the baby and kept it through the adoption process. Before I left the hospital with the baby, it was all properly done, legally, ethically, the whole deal and the social worker did her part.

Babies are not like organs being donated to the highest priority recipient. Well, maybe they are. If I decide to give Suzie one of my kidneys, I don't have to offer it to those on the donor kidney waiting list. If I want to give Suzie my baby to legally adopt, then I don't have to offer my baby to anyone but Suzie and I can give my baby to Suzie at anytime I please.

As far as the original poster's last post--yeah, yeah, it's always more than is in the original post and we never know crap about your situation or any related matter, either. You had all the answers before you posted. If you were looking for someone to say that surely you were wrongly disciplined, hang around; someone will host your pity party. It won't be me and I won't be attending, either.

Bye,
EC

" no adoptive parent deserves not knowing what they are up against"

Sure, it would be nice to know all the problems a child has before adopting.them. Do you believe that because we used an agency and had a home study we had full knowledge of all issues that existed? I know so many adoptive families that didn't know they were up against RAD, bipolar, FAS/FAE, etc. Going through all the proper channels didn't mean this was all known. And birth children can be born with unexpected problems, too (athough none of us would have exposed our kids in utero to drugs or alchohol).

"many children who are placed for adoption are placed because of unfit parents"

Exactly my point. Being born to someone provides no preknowledge of competancy to parent, but unfit parents walk out of the hospital every day with their babies.

And ryrysmom, on the contrary, I'd love to see MORE rather than less scrutiny of any parents taking a precious baby home. Would be nice if ALL parents were capable of passing a home study, not just adoptive ones.

Boy ellencee do you have problems-anyway-I did not know any of this to after the baby went home with the RN-the RN adopted the baby-did not give it to someone else-the test results came back after the RN took the baby home-which was when i posted my first message-the other information was just made available to me-the positive drug screen... Ellencee-I suppose you will not be reading this b/c you are attending your own self absorbed party-however the bottom line is a hospital should always follow hospital policy regarding adoptions-most hospitals state that all parties stay in the hospital excluding the adoptive parents, until th t's are crossed and i's are dotted-
I was posting simply to get other peoples input-not to be patrionized by a grandiose individual like ellencee.
Thank you-