California Family Code 8702 – (a) The department shall adopt a statement to be presented to …
(a) The department shall adopt a statement to be presented to the birth parents at the time a relinquishment is signed and to prospective adoptive parents at the time of the home study. The statement shall, in a clear and concise manner and in words calculated to ensure the confidence of the birth parents in the integrity of the adoption process, communicate to the birth parents of a child who is the subject of an adoption petition all of the following facts:
(1) It is in the child’s best interest that the birth parent keep the department, county adoption agency, or licensed adoption agency to whom the child was relinquished for adoption informed of any health problems that the parent develops that could affect the child.
Terms Used In California Family Code 8702
- County: includes city and county. See California Family Code 67
- order: include a decree, as appropriate under the circumstances. See California Family Code 100
- Person: includes a natural person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or public entity. See California Family Code 105
- Proceeding: includes an action. See California Family Code 110
- State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, or a commonwealth, territory, or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See California Family Code 145
(2) It is extremely important that the birth parent keep an address current with the department, county adoption agency, or licensed adoption agency to whom the child was relinquished for adoption in order to permit a response to inquiries concerning medical or social history.
(3) § 9203 of the Family Code authorizes a person who has been adopted and who attains the age of 21 years to request the department, county adoption agency, or the licensed adoption agency to disclose the name and address of the adoptee’s birth parents. Consequently, it is of the utmost importance that the birth parent indicate whether to allow this disclosure by checking the appropriate box provided on the form.
(4) The birth parent may change the decision whether to permit disclosure of the birth parent’s name and address, at any time, by sending a notarized letter to that effect, by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the department, county adoption agency, or to the licensed adoption agency that joined in the adoption petition.
(5) The relinquishment will be filed in the office of the clerk of the court in which the adoption takes place. The file is not open to inspection by any persons other than the parties to the adoption proceeding, their attorneys, and the department, except upon order of a judge of the superior court.
(b) The department shall adopt a form to be signed by the birth parents at the time the relinquishment is signed, which shall provide as follows:
“§ 9203 of the Family Code authorizes a person who has been adopted and who attains the age of 21 years to make a request to the State Department of Social Services, county adoption agency, or licensed adoption agency that joined in the adoption petition, for the name and address of the adoptee’s birth parents. Indicate by checking one of the boxes below whether or not you wish your name and address to be disclosed:
?YES
?NO
?UNCERTAIN AT THIS TIME; WILL NOTIFY
AGENCY AT LATER DATE.”
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 35, Sec. 16. (SB 1013) Effective June 27, 2012.)