(a) It is unlawful for any person, corporation, agency, or other entity other than the department or a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker, as defined in § 36-1-102, that is subject to regulation by the department to:

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class C felony3 to 15 yearsup to $10,000
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 36-1-109

  • Adoption: means the social and legal process of establishing by court order, other than by paternity or legitimation proceedings or by voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, the legal relationship of parent and child. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Consent: means :
    (A) The written authorization to relinquish a child for adoption, which is given by an agency such as the department or a public child care agency of another state or country or licensed child-placing agency of this or another state, which agency has the authority, by court order or by surrender or by operation of law or by any combination of these, to place a child for adoption and to give permission for the adoption of that child by other persons. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • court: includes the juvenile court for purposes of the authority to accept the surrender or revocation of surrenders of a child and to issue any orders of reference, orders of guardianship, or other orders resulting from a surrender or revocation that it accepts and for purposes of authorizing the termination of parental rights pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Department: means the department of children's services or any of its divisions or units. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Foster care: has the meaning given to that term in §. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Guardianship: means the status created by a court order appointing a person or entity guardian of the child. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Licensed child-placing agency: means any agency operating under a license to place children for adoption issued by the department, or operating under a license from any governmental authority from any other state or territory or the District of Columbia, or any agency that operates under the authority of another country with the right to make placement of children for adoption and that has, in the department's sole determination, been authorized to place children for adoption in this state. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Licensed clinical social worker: means an individual who holds a license as an independent practitioner from the board of social worker certification and licensure pursuant to title 63, chapter 23, and, in addition, is licensed by the department to provide adoption placement services. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Parental consent: means the consent described in subdivision (16)(C). See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • parents: means any biological, legal, adoptive parent or parents or, for purposes of §. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Prospective adoptive parents: means a nonagency person or persons who are seeking to adopt a child and who have made application with a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker or the department for approval, or who have been previously approved, to receive a child for adoption, or who have received or who expect to receive a surrender of a child, or who have filed a petition for termination or for adoption. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Related: means grandparents or any degree of great-grandparents, aunts or uncles, or any degree of great-aunts or great-uncles, or stepparent, or cousins of the first degree, or first cousins once removed, or any siblings of the whole or half degree or any spouse of the above listed relatives. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Surrender: means a document executed under §. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1)

(A) Charge or receive from or on behalf of any person or persons legally adopting or accepting a child for adoption any remuneration, fee, contribution, or thing of value whatsoever for rendering any service described in § 36-1-108 in connection with the placement of such child for adoption or in connection with the placement of such child for foster care or adoption with one other than the child’s parent or parents other than that now or hereafter allowed by law;
(B)

(i) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the payment by any interested person of reasonable charges or fees for hospital or medical services for the birth of the child, or for medical care and other reasonable birth-related expenses for the mother and/or child incident thereto, for reasonable counseling fees for the parents or prospective adoptive parents and/or child, for reasonable legal services or the reasonable costs of legal proceedings related to the adoption of any child or for reasonable, actual expenses for housing, food, maternity clothing, child’s clothing, utilities or transportation for a reasonable period not to exceed the duration of the pregnancy and ninety (90) days after the birth or surrender or parental consent to the adoption of the child, unless a court with jurisdiction for the surrender or adoption of a child, based upon detailed affidavits of a birth mother and the prospective adoptive parents and such other evidence as the court may require, specifically approves in a written order, based upon a motion filed by the prospective adoptive parents for that purpose, any expenses specifically allowed in this subdivision (a)(1)(B) for a period prior to or after the periods noted above;
(ii) Such expenses must be incurred directly in connection with the maternity, birth, and/or placement of the child for adoption, or for legal services or for costs of legal proceedings directly related to the adoption of the child, or for counseling, which may occur in person or by virtual means, for a period of up to two (2) years for the parent who surrenders the child or consents to the adoption of the child;
(iii) The payment for such expenses may only be for expenses or costs actually incurred during the periods permitted in subdivisions (a)(1)(B)(i) and (ii). This shall not be construed to prohibit the actual payment or receipt of payment for such expenses or costs after those periods that were actually incurred during those periods;
(2) Sell or surrender a child to another person for money or anything of value; and it is unlawful for any person to receive such minor child for such payment of money or thing of value; provided, that nothing herein shall be construed as prohibiting any person who is contemplating adopting a child not yet born or surrendered or for whom a parental consent may be given from payment of the expenses set forth in subdivision (a)(1)(B);
(3) Having the rights and duties of a parent or guardian with respect to the care and custody of a minor child, assign or transfer such parental or guardianship rights for the purpose of, incidental to, or otherwise connected with, selling or offering to sell such rights and duties for money or anything of value; or
(4) Assist in the commission of any acts prohibited in subdivision (a)(1), (a)(2), or (a)(3).
(b) A violation of this section is a Class C felony.
(c) Any adoption completed before March 27, 1978, shall not be affected by this section.
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