ADOPTION IN
Indiana
Domestic Infant Adoptions can be completed through adoption agencies and attorneys. They can help prospective parents adopt a child domestically. Click here for a directory of adoption service providers in Indiana.
International Adoptions must be completed through adoption agencies and attorneys. They can help prospective parents adopt a child internationally. Find an international adoption service provider here.
Foster Care Adoptions Indiana can be completed through the Department of Child Services (888-25ADOPT).
Gallery of children waiting to be adopted.
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The information contained on this website is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional legal advice. Always seek the advice of a licensed and qualified professional. While the content of this website is frequently updated, information changes rapidly and therefore, some information may be out of date, and/or contain inaccuracies, omissions or typographical errors.
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Can I Adopt in Indiana?
Hopeful adoptive parents can be single, married, or divorced. As part of the adoption process, parents will need to pass a home study. During this process applicants need to show there is enough room to house another child in their home. Applicants must be financially ready to add another child to their family, and they must pass a criminal background check.
What Adoption Regulations Exist in Indiana?
Advertising: Only licensed agencies or attorneys may create an ad listing a person’s telephone number, on behalf of that person, that a child is offered or wanted for adoption, or that a person is able to place, locate, or receive a child for adoption. Only licensed agencies or attorneys may charge a fee for adoption services legally provided. § 35-46-1-21; 35-46-1-22
Relinquishment: Birth mothers may give consent to an adoption any time after the birth of their child. Birth fathers can give consent before birth if the consent: is in writing, signed before a notary public, and contains an acknowledgement that consent is irrevocable and that the father will not receive notice of adoption proceedings. Birth parents have 30 days after giving consent to revoke. Once the final adoption proceeding is passed, consent cannot be revoked. § 31-19-9-2
Birth parent expenses: The following expenses are permitted in Indiana: reasonable attorney, hosptial, medical, counseling, travel to services, and living expenses. Total expenses are not to exceed $3,000 unless approved by the courts. Living expenses are not to last longer than 6 weeks after pregnancy and cannot exceed a total of $1,000.
Post-adoption contact agreements: Contact agreements are legally enforceable in Indiana. Agreements must be in writing, approved by the courts and both adoptive and birth parents. Courts approve agreements so long as the child is at least 2 years old, and the agreement is in the child’s best interest. For more information, visit Adoption.com’s Indiana wiki.
Birth father rights: Indiana currently uses a putative father registry for unmarried fathers to file their information with the State Department of Health and receive notice of adoption proceedings. If the mother chooses not to disclose the identity of the putative father, unmarried fathers must register in order to receive notice. § 31-19-5-2
Finalization: Out of 811 adoptions completed in 2014, the average time between termination of parental rights and adoption finalization was 11.8 months. (acf.hhs.gov)
Is Adoption Assistance Available in Indiana?
Many of the children waiting to be adopted in Indiana have special needs. Federal (Title IV-E) and state (non-IV-E) programs exist to help adoptive parents meet their child’s needs. In Indiana, the maximum daily payment is $16.88. For more information please visit NACAC.org.
Can I adopt a Child from another country?
It is always possible to adopt a child from another country, even if you live in the United States. Children under 18 adopted from a Hague Convention country entering the U.S. with an IH-3 visa may automatically receive U.S. citizenship.
Children adopted from a non convention country must qualify as orphans before receiving U.S. citizenship. When U.S. citizens finalize an adoption abroad, they must apply to the USCIS for an IR-3 visa for the child. An IR-3 visa classifies the child as an immigrant and provides the child with citizenship upon arrival in the States.
Indiana gives full effect and recognition to adoptions completed abroad so long as both the laws of the child’s country and the U.S. were followed.
State Contacts
Gallery of children waiting to be adopted: https://adoption.com/photolisting?page=1&search_type=region&range=UnitedStates
State subsidy contact:
Rick Peterson
Assistant Deputy Director
402 W. Washington St.
Room W392 MS-47
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-234-6910 • fax: 317-234-5444
Rick.Peterson@dcs.in.gov
Summary
Adoptions in Indiana can be completed through the Department of Child Services.
You can be single, married, or divorced. Parents will need to pass a home study. Applicants need to show there is enough room to house another child.
Only licensed agencies or attorneys may charge a fee for adoption services legally provided. Birth mothers may give consent to an adoption any time after the birth of their child. Birth fathers can give consent before birth. Parents have 30 days after giving consent to revoke.
The following expenses are permitted: reasonable attorney, hosptial, medical, counseling, travel to services, and living expenses. Contact agreements are legally enforceable in Indiana.
Indiana currently uses a putative father registry for unmarried fathers to file their information with the State Department of Health and receive notice of adoption proceedings. The average time between TPR and adoption finalization in 2014 was 11.8 months.
