Hyde Law Firm, P.A. is thrilled to celebrate National Adoption Awareness Month during the month of November. Our state faces an urgent need for adoptive families for children in foster care. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the first National Adoption Week and in 1995, President Bill Clinton expanded the week to the entire month of November.

Adoption legally creates a parent-child relationship where one did not previously exist. S.C. Code § 63-9-30(2). The adoption seals the child’s original birth certificate and permits an amended birth certificate to be issued with the adoptive parent included. S.C. Code § 63-9-790.

Any South Carolina resident may petition for adoption in this state, or non-residents in special circumstances. The course of adoption takes a bit longer for non-relative adoptions, while a step-parent or blood-relative adoption saves a couple steps regarding background investigations, accounting, and waiting periods.

The rights of the biological parents must be terminated or relinquished, which may involve a separate case from the adoption itself. This must be done before the adoption matter begins. Often adoptive parents do not anticipate this step or its hidden hurdles. An experienced attorney can discuss these issues with you.

Once the adoption case is filed, a guardian ad litem (GAL) is appointed for the minor child and acts as a party in the case receiving filed documents and acting as the voice of the child. Our office works with the adoptive parents and GAL throughout the entire process including pre-and post-placement investigations. We look forward to the court date where a family court judge grants your adoption decree and certificate of adoption!

Hyde Law Firm, P.A. would be honored to handle your adoption case, and is waiting for your call, 864-804-6330.