Cook County Adoption Lawyers

Attorneys Helping Parents Complete the Adoption Process in Oak Park and Skokie

When a person or a couple chooses to adopt a child, they are making a lifetime commitment to provide the child with a home and ensure that their ongoing needs are met. Because of this, there are a variety of legal requirements that must be met and processes that must be followed. In order to ensure that the avalanche of issues and concerns in an adoption case are dealt with correctly, it is essential to work with a dedicated family law attorney.

At Wakenight & Associates, P.C., our lawyers have over 95 years of combined legal experience. We are dedicated to helping families overcome the legal obstacles they face, and we will work with you to complete the adoption process as smoothly as possible.

Compassionate Assistance With a Wide Variety of Adoptions

The legal process of adoption is designed to protect children's best interests and ensure that parents can provide them with a home that will meet their needs and allow them to thrive. When this process is complete, the adoptive parents will become the child's legal parents, giving them the right to make decisions about raising the child and the responsibility to provide their child with food, shelter, clothing, and any other needs. 

A single person, a married couple, a same-sex couple, or an unmarried couple may adopt a child in a variety of situations, including:

• Foster parent adoptions - In many cases, adoptive parents choose to become licensed foster parents through the Illinois Department of Childcare and Family Services (DCFS). After providing a home for a foster child or sibling group for a certain period of time, they may choose to legally adopt the child or children. If the child's biological parent contests the adoption, a hearing may need to be held in which a judge will decide whether it is in children's best interests to terminate that parent's parental rights and allow the adoption.
• Private adoptions - Adoptive parents may be able to reach an agreement in which the child's biological parents give up their parental rights and allow their child to be adopted. Depending on the situation, the agreement may allow the child to continue to see their birth parent(s) and have an ongoing relationship with them.
• International or interstate adoptions - Since each state and country has its own adoption laws, parents who wish to adopt a child from outside Illinois or outside the United States will need to not only meet the requirements of Illinois law, but also those of the child's original state or country.
• Step-parent adoptions - When a person gets married and has a child from a previous relationship, their new spouse may wish to become the step-child's legal parent. This option is also often used by same-sex couples who wish to have one spouse adopt the other spouse's biological child. The child's other biological parent must agree to give up their parental rights, or those rights must be terminated by a court.

Contact a Chicago Adoption Attorney

When you are looking to provide a loving home to an adoptive child, you will want to complete the adoption process quickly and easily. Our family law attorneys will work with you to ensure that you meet your requirements, and we will provide you with dedicated representation in any legal proceedings. Contact us today by calling 708-480-9651 to arrange a free consultation. We assist with adoption cases in Oak Park, Maybrook, Berwyn, Chicago, Forest Park, Riverside, Skokie, Cicero, Elmwood Park, River Forest, and Cook County.