Adoption is a process that creates a new family for a child or adult. The process for completing the adoption varies based on the type of adoption. Most types of adoptions require a completed home study (also called a “Family Assessment” or “Family Evaluation”) before the adoption legal process can begin. If the Department of Human Services is not involved and the court classifies your adoption as a relative, guardian, adult or step-parent adoption, the adoption process can begin without the home study, but one is needed before the adoption is completed.

Other Requirements
In addition to the home study children ages 14 and over can only be adopted if they give their consent in writing. Children under the age of 14 are consulted, but their written permission is not required. Another issue that must be resolved is whether the child will retain their current name. Once this decision is made and the adoption is completed, the court will submit a request to the state that issued the original birth record to issue a new birth certificate, which includes the child’s new name and the new parents’ name.

Upon Completion
Once the adoption is completed, the adoptive parents become fully responsible for the child and are legally obligated to provide for the child’s health, education, and welfare until the child reaches the age of majority or is emancipated.

Foster Care
Foster Care is meant to be a temporary situation for children and their families. Sometimes children come into the foster care system due to neglect; for example, the mother cannot pay her water and heating bills or is not providing adequate medical care for the child. Other times a child is placed in temporary foster care due to experiencing more significant types of abuse.

Interaction With The Court
Initially, the court places the children in temporary foster care while trying to determine what is in the best interest of the child. In some cases, temporary foster care ends when the child is reunited with their family. In other cases, the court concludes that termination of parental rights is in the foster child’s best interest. Once parental rights have been terminated, the child becomes available for adoption. Termination of parental rights is not a decision which is made lightly; the Court, foster care workers, and other service providers work to provide services to parents which will rectify the situation that initially brought the child into care and allow the child to return to their home of origin.

Adoption by Guardian
A guardianship is established when a court issues “Letters of Guardianship”. These letters give the guardian responsibility for the health, education and safety of a child.

An adoption of a child by the guardian of that child proceeds differently depending on whether or not that child is in foster care. If the child is in foster care, the adoption proceeds as a foster care adoption.

This adoption can be initiated without a home study. However, a home study must be completed before the adoption can be granted.The adoption provides legal recognition of the emotional attachment that has already been formed. 

Private or Infant Adoption
Adoptions which do not involve a removal of a child from their birth families is often referred to as a direct placement adoption. It involves a birth parent following a legal procedure selecting an adoptive family that allows the direct placement of the infant. The parties work together to improve the life of a child: the birth parent(s), the prospective adoptive family, and the child (or in some cases adult) who is available for adoption.

The adoption decision is often made so that a child can have a better life than the birth parent(s) can provide. Birth parents can participate in the selection of the adoptive parents when the birth parents initiate the adoption process. Before an adoption can proceed, birth parents must make the difficult decision to allow their parental rights to be terminated, because Michigan law does not allow a child to have two sets of legal parents.

Interstate Adoption
The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) is an agreement that only applies to those cases where the adopting parents and the child being adopted reside in different states. The Interstate Compact is statutory law in all 52 member jurisdictions.

This set of laws creates a binding agreement between its members to follow uniform legal and administrative procedures when the child being adopted is located in a state different than the adopting family.

Step-parent Adoption
A step-parent adoption usually occurs when one or more of the interested parties believes it is in the best interest of the adoptee. This type of adoption is sometimes initiated because one relationship has dissolved (the relationship between the child and its non-custodial parent) and another has emerged (the relationship between the child being adopted and their step-parent).

As a result, the step-parent adoption simply provides legal recognition and confirmation of the emotional relationship that has already formed. This adoption can be initiated without a home study. However, a home study must be completed before the adoption can be granted.

Relative Adoption
A relative adoption of a child who is not in foster care proceeds differently than if the child is in foster care. 

This adoption can be initiated without a home study. However, a home study must be completed before the adoption can be granted. The adoption provides legal recognition of the emotional attachment that has already been formed. 

Adult Adoption
Adults can be adopted in Michigan. A home study is not needed to initiate the adoption process but must be completed before the adoption is granted. After the adoption is completed a new birth certificate is issued.

An adult adoption is an adoption of a person eighteen or older (generally by a step-parent). However, there are the occasions when a foster parent has agreed to adopt a foster youth once the youth has turned the legal age of 18.