Stillings & Buchinger, LLC

adoptions by relatives

Adoptions by a relative (within the same family) can have many advantages, as well as many disadvantages. Regardless of who adopts a child, the manner in which the adoptive and biological parents and other relatives deal with each other and the child is the biggest factor in determining whether the child will be successful in handling the adoption.

Society and parents want the same end result: well adjusted children who feel loved and cared for by the people who are known to them as parents. Adoptions are then like child custody hearings in a divorce - the decisions made by a court in a custody dispute will be made in the light of what is best for the child or children. While those court decisions will consider parents by their ability and means to care and provide for a child, whether it is a custody matter or an adoption, the focus is on the child, not the parents.

There is no right or wrong advice that could ever be given or offered for all adoptions, but it stands to reason that adoptions, even within the family, should be considered in the light of what is best for the child. And the outcome of how well that child will adjust to being adopted will be an outcome of how well parents - biological and adoptive - and other family members handle that adoption. Society would hope that all relatives would respect the decisions made for the child's best interest regardless of their personal feelings about the adoption. Whether that degree of respect for the adoption decision will be forthcoming in your family adoption situation is an answer that only you are likely to have.

Attorneys Gordon Stillings & Melody Buchinger are always pleased to help a family adopt a child. Stillings & Buchinger, LLC is a law firm located in Neenah, Wisconsin who frequently helps their clients with adoptions. In most instances, those adoptions involve a stepparent adopting his or her stepchild. The attorneys are very familiar with Wisconsin law regarding adoptions. They are always pleased to help a family with the documentation and contractual obligations involved in an adoption.

Not An Adoption Agency

However, Stillings & Buchinger is not an adoption agency, and they cannot provide you with the services that you might require to search for a child. For those types of services, you may want to contact the adoption organizations in the community. For adoptions by relatives, where a search is not required, they would be happy to help.