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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1009
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 3684
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT CONCERNING IDENTIFIED ADOPTIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 45a-728 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 2
The Commissioner of Children and Families shall adopt regulations 3
in accordance with chapter 54 concerning [adoption] adoptive 4
placement of children [who have been identified or located] by child-5
placing agencies, whether such children have been identified or located 6
by prospective adoptive parents or placed for adoption by such 7
agencies. Such regulations shall provide that for adoptions involving an 8
identified [expectant mother] pregnant parent, counseling of [the birth 9
mother] such parent shall be required within seventy-two hours of birth 10
of the child, or as soon as medically possible after [the] such birth. [, and 11
that permissible payment of expenses for birth parent counseling shall 12
include the cost of transportation.] Such counseling may be provided by 13
a person with a master's or doctoral degree in counseling, psychology, 14
social work or related mental health disciplines from an accredited 15
college or university. 16 Raised Bill No. 1009
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Sec. 2. Section 45a-728a of the general statutes is repealed and the 17
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 18
Prospective adoptive parents may participate in the labor and birth 19
of the child identified for adoption and may visit with such newborn 20
child, provided the [birth mother] pregnant parent, the child-placing 21
agency and [her] the pregnant parent's physician agree and such 22
participation and visitation are consistent with the medically necessary 23
procedures of the hospital. 24
Sec. 3. Section 45a-728b of the general statutes is repealed and the 25
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 26
Any licensed hospital discharging a newborn infant identified for 27
adoption to a child-placing agency shall arrange for the physical transfer 28
of custody of such infant to take place in a safe, secure and private room 29
on the hospital premises. The prospective adoptive parent or parents 30
may be present at the discharge with the approval of the child-placing 31
agency. At the time of discharge, the hospital shall provide such 32
prospective adoptive parent or parents or child-placing agency with any 33
nonidentifying information customarily provided to [birth] genetic 34
parents upon discharge concerning the care, feeding and health of the 35
infant. The hospital shall provide the child-placing agency with the 36
medical information concerning the [birth mother] parent who gave 37
birth and the infant within a reasonable time. Such prospective adoptive 38
parent or parents shall be permitted to participate in any program of 39
instruction regarding infant care and child development that is made 40
available by such licensed hospital to [birth] genetic parents, provided 41
such prospective adoptive parent or parents pay the cost of such 42
participation in such program. 43
Sec. 4. Section 45a-728c of the general statutes is repealed and the 44
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 45
(a) With respect to [adoption] adoptive placement of [children who 46
have been] a child identified or located by a prospective adoptive parent 47
or parents, payment [for the living expenses of the birth mother by the 48 Raised Bill No. 1009
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prospective adoptive parents shall be permitted in an amount not to 49
exceed one thousand five hundred dollars or such amount as may be 50
approved in unusual circumstances by the probate court for the district 51
where the child-placing agency is located or where the prospective 52
adoptive parents reside. In addition to the payment of living expenses, 53
payment by the prospective adoptive parents of reasonable telephone 54
and maternity clothing expenses of the birth mother shall be permitted.] 55
or reimbursement by such adoptive parent or parents to the pregnant 56
parent for reasonable expenses, fees and services relating to the 57
pregnancy or adoption, including, but not limited to, living, medical or 58
legal expenses, as determined by the child-placing agency, shall be 59
permitted. Any such payments or reimbursements shall be made not 60
earlier than one hundred eighty days prior to the expected date of birth 61
of such child and not later than sixty days after the birth of such child. 62
Any such payments or reimbursements are subject to approval by the 63
Probate Court in which an application and agreement for adoption 64
pursuant to section 45a-727 has or will be filed. 65
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, payments or 66
reimbursements provided by a prospective adoptive parent or parents 67
in accordance with subsection (a) of this section shall not obligate a 68
child's genetic parent or parents to place such child for adoption. If such 69
genetic parent or parents do not place such child for adoption after such 70
child's birth, the prospective adoptive parent or parents who provided 71
such payments or reimbursements shall have no right to reimbursement 72
for such payments or reimbursements. 73
(c) A prospective adoptive parent or parents may seek 74
reimbursement for payments or reimbursements provided in 75
accordance with subsection (a) of this section if (1) the pregnant parent 76
was knowingly not pregnant at the time of the receipt of such payments 77
or reimbursements, or (2) the pregnant parent received payments or 78
reimbursements simultaneously from separate prospective adoptive 79
parents without the knowledge of the other prospective adoptive 80
parents. 81 Raised Bill No. 1009
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(d) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, prior to the 82
provision of payment or reimbursement in accordance with subsection 83
(a) of this section, the prospective adoptive parent or parents providing 84
such payment or reimbursement shall file with the Probate Court in 85
which an application and agreement for adoption pursuant to section 86
45a-727 has or will be filed, a sworn affidavit containing all expenses, 87
fees and services such parent or parents intend to pay or reimburse for. 88
The Probate Court shall, ex parte and without prior notice, approve 89
reasonable payments and reimbursements for such expenses, fees and 90
services. If the Probate Court determines that a payment or 91
reimbursement is unreasonable, the Probate Court shall schedule a 92
hearing on such affidavit to occur not later than thirty days after such 93
affidavit is filed. Not later than thirty days after such hearing, the court 94
shall issue an order approving or disapproving each payment or 95
reimbursement based on specific findings of fact. 96
(e) A prospective adoptive parent or parents may make payments or 97
reimbursements, in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, of not 98
more than two thousand dollars total, without filing a sworn affidavit 99
in accordance with subsection (d) of this section, provided the child-100
placing agency determines (1) there is a demonstrated need for such 101
payments or reimbursements to protect the health or well-being of the 102
pregnant parent or child, and (2) such payments or reimbursements are 103
reasonable. 104
Sec. 5. Section 45a-728d of the general statutes is repealed and the 105
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 106
Any [birth] genetic parent, or such parent's legal representative, may 107
advertise through any public media [in this state] for the placement of 108
[his or her] such parent's child for the purposes of identified adoption 109
or adoption through a child-placing agency. Any prospective adoptive 110
parent, or such prospective adoptive parent's legal representative, may 111
advertise through any public media [in this state] for placement of a 112
child into his or her care for the purposes of identified adoption or 113
adoption through a child-placing agency. 114 Raised Bill No. 1009
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Sec. 6. Subsection (a) of section 45a-763 of the general statutes is 115
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 116
2023): 117
(a) An Adoption Review Board is established, to consist of the 118
Commissioner of Children and Families or [his] the commissioner's 119
designee, the Probate Court Administrator or [his] the administrator's 120
designee, and [an officer] a representative of a child-placing agency 121
which is located in the state and licensed by the Commissioner of 122
Children and Families, who shall be appointed by the Governor to serve 123
for a term of four years from the date of [his] such appointment. 124
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2023 45a-728
Sec. 2 July 1, 2023 45a-728a
Sec. 3 July 1, 2023 45a-728b
Sec. 4 July 1, 2023 45a-728c
Sec. 5 July 1, 2023 45a-728d
Sec. 6 July 1, 2023 45a-763(a)
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) require the Department of Children and Families to adopt
regulations concerning adoptive placement of children by child-placing
agencies, (2) specify the types of payments and reimbursements that
may be made by prospective adoptive parents to pregnant parents and
requirements for making such payments and reimbursements, (3)
specify that a genetic parent's legal representative or prospective
adoptive parent's legal representative may advertise through public
media for the purposes of identified adoption or adoption through a
child-placing agency, and (4) make minor revisions to statutes
concerning adoption.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]