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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 1009
AN ACT CONCERNING IDENTIFIED ADOPTIONS.
SUMMARY
This bill makes several changes to the laws that govern identified
adoption procedures in Connecticut. (An identified adoption, which
must be approved by the probate court, is one in which the child being
placed for adoption was identified or located by the prospective
adoptive parents.)
The bill adds certain social workers to the list of professionals who
may provide existing law’s required post-delivery birth parent
counseling. It also specifically allows birth parents’ and prospective
adoptive parents’ legal representatives to advertise, through public
media, the child’s placement for identified adoption.
For payments or reimbursements made by prospective adoptive
parents to the person giving birth, the bill eliminates current law’s
$1,500 cap and instead requires that the payments and reimbursements
be reasonable and limited to a specific duration. It also requires the
prospective adoptive parents to first file a sworn affidavit of these
expenses with the probate court. The court must approve reasonable
expenses ex parte (without a hearing) or hold a hearing within a specific
timeframe if it finds the expenses unreasonable.
The bill exempts from the affidavit requirement payments and
reimbursements up to $2,000 if they are reasonable and necessary to
protect the pregnant person’s or child’s health or well-being. It also
limits the circumstances under which the prospective adoptive parents
may be reimbursed by the person who received payments or
reimbursements.
Current law requires the Department of Children and Families 2023SB-01009-R000042-BA.DOCX
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commissioner to adopt regulations for the placement of children in
identified adoptions. The bill specifies that these regulations apply to
child placement whether the child was (1) identified or located by the
prospective adoptive parents or (2) placed for adoption by the child
placement agency.
The bill also conforms the statutes on identified adoption to the
Connecticut Parentage Act (PA 21-15) by replacing the gender-specific
term “expectant mother” with “pregnant person.” It also replaces the
term “birth parent” with “alleged genetic parent.” (Presumably, this
includes the person giving birth.)
Lastly, the bill requires the governor to appoint to the Adoption
Review Board a representative of a child-placing agency, rather than an
officer of a child-placing agency as current law requires.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2023
POST-DELIVERY COUNSELING
The law requires that a person who gives birth in an identified
adoption case must receive counseling within 72 hours after the child’s
birth or as soon as medically possible after giving birth. Current law
allows the counseling to be provided by individuals with a master’s or
doctoral degree in counseling, psychology, or related mental health
disciplines from an accredited college or university. The bill expands the
list of professionals who may provide the counseling by including
individuals who have a master’s or doctoral degree in social work.
ADVERTISING
Current law allows the birth parent (“alleged genetic parent” under
the bill) and the prospective adoptive parents to advertise, through
public media, for the child’s placement for identified adoption. The bill
(1) specifically allows the parties’ legal representatives to advertise on
their behalf, (2) removes current law’s restriction that the
advertisements be in-state only, and (3) specifies that these provisions
also apply to adoptions through a child-placing agency.
PAYMENT OF EXPENSES BY PROSPECTIVE ADOPT IVE PARENTS 2023SB-01009-R000042-BA.DOCX
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Permissible Expenses, Fees, and Services
The bill broadens the expenses prospective adoptive parents must be
allowed to pay or reimburse the person giving birth in cases where the
child was identified or located by the prospective adoptive parents. It
also establishes timeframes for making the payments and
reimbursements.
Current law caps the payment or reimbursement for living expenses
at $1,500 or, in unusual circumstances, an amount approved by the
probate court for the district where the child-placing agency is located
or where the prospective adoptive parents live. Current law also
specifically allows payment or reimbursement for (1) reasonable
telephone and maternity clothing expenses and (2) post-delivery
counseling expenses, including transportation costs.
The bill instead allows adoptive parents to pay or reimburse the
person giving birth for reasonable pregnancy- or adoption-related
expenses, fees, and services. This includes living, medical, or legal
expenses as determined by the child-placing agency. The payments or
reimbursements (1) must be made within 180 days before the expected
date of birth and 60 days after the child’s birth and (2) are subject to
approval by the probate court where the adoption agreement or
application was or will be filed.
Affidavit Filing Requirement and Exception
With one exception (see below), the bill requires the prospective
adoptive parents, before making any payments or reimbursements, to
file a sworn affidavit with the probate court in which an adoption
application and agreement was or will be filed. The affidavit must
contain all expenses, fees, and services for which the prospective
adoptive parents intend to pay or reimburse.
The bill allows prospective adoptive parents to pay or reimburse a
maximum of $2,000 of the expenses described above, without filing an
affidavit, if the child-placing agency determines the payments or
reimbursements are reasonable and necessary to protect the pregnant
person’s or child’s health or well-being. 2023SB-01009-R000042-BA.DOCX
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Probate Court Approval
The bill requires the probate court to, without prior notice or a
hearing (i.e., ex parte), approve reasonable payments and
reimbursements. If the probate court determines that a payment or
reimbursement is unreasonable, it must schedule a hearing on the
affidavit within 30 days after it was filed. Within 30 days after the
hearing, the court must approve or disapprove each payment or
reimbursement based on specific findings of fact.
Reimbursement to Prospective Adoptive Parent
Under the bill, the alleged genetic parents are not obligated to place
the child for adoption just because they accepted payments or
reimbursements from the prospective adoptive parents. If the alleged
genetic parents do not place the child for adoption after birth, the
prospective adoptive parents are generally not entitled to
reimbursement of the payments or reimbursements of expenses they
made.
The bill allows prospective adoptive parents to seek reimbursement
of the payments or reimbursements they made if the person who
received the money did so (1) when knowingly not pregnant or (2)
simultaneously from separate prospective adoptive parents without the
others’ knowledge.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Committee on Children
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 14 Nay 5 (02/24/2023)