Consent to Adopt (Glossary)

Consent to Adopt: The document that is voluntarily signed by the birthparents in an adoption that allows the adoptive parents to adopt their child. In most states it must be signed in front of witnesses and a Notary Public. State law varies widely concerning when the earliest point in time is when a binding Consent may be signed by a birth parent, with the earliest being before the child is born and the latest being 15 days after the birth. In some states a Consent is irrevocable when signed, meaning it cannot later be taken back or voided by a birthparent, unless it can be shown that it was executed in an improper form or way, or at an improper time, or that it was obtained as the result of fraud, misrepresentation, force or duress. Generally, a Consent to Adoption differs from a Relinquishment that is most often used in an agency adoption, since a Consent to Adoption passes the parental rights of the birthparents directly to the adoptive parents that they have chosen, while the Relinquishment passes the parental rights to the agency, which in turn passes them on to adoptive parents, which may or may not have been selected by the birthparents.