Adoption Agency Contracts & Re-adoption

I had a phone conversation with Diane Kunz a few days ago. Diane is the executive director of The Center for Adoption Policy based in New York.

I contacted Diane because I had learned about her on one of the Yahoo chat groups as being very intelligent and insightful. She is a historian, as well as a lawyer, and I wanted her advice about having an international lawyer look over the contract of an adoption agency I am considering.

We ended up talking less about contracts and lawyers and more about the international adoption environment, especially concerning adoptions from China (I am interested in adopting from Kazakhstan and China). Diane is a wealth of knowledge, given her career and since she has adopted 4 children from China.

Diane advised that using a lawyer to look over the agency contract was not a necessary step, but could be a good one in terms of truly understanding the contract and how it benefits the agency and how it could be stronger for the client. She said that most agencies would probably not change their contracts, at least not significantly. I do know of agencies that have made changes to their contracts upon request of clients. Nothing is set in stone regarding contracts and in light of the decrease in international adoptions from the U.S., I believe that some agencies would probably be very motivated to alter their contract somewhat if it met getting more business. So don't rule it out as a possibility and remember that all contracts are negotiations.

Also, Diane cautioned that signing a contract that has a gag clause or that indemnifies an agency from any responsibility whatsoever is never a good idea.

Diane referred me to Rumbold & Seidelman, a law firm in New York that I had actually spoken to on the phone a few days before. I can't remember if I spoke with Nina Rumbold or Denise Seidelman, but when I asked them about whether I should have a lawyer look over an agency contract they gave me pretty much the same advice as Diane. It's not necessary but it can be helpful in assisting me in understanding the contract and my rights (or lack thereof) under the contract. I saw this type of answer as being a good sign, as an unscrupulous lawyer would probably have told me that I definitely needed to do this and that I should use them to do it!

I ended up posting the questionable paragraphs of the agency's contract online on some of the Yahoo chat groups (with the name of the agency deleted). The majority of the responses I got told me that the contract was pretty typical and not overly binding. I am still checking in to other agencies. It's always good to compare the different agencies and see how they do things differently.

Diane and the lawyer I spoke with both said that for many international adoptions that it's important to get get a re-adoption, and it will continue to be until the Hague Convention is fully enforced. Re-adoption is the legal process in which a state court, enters an order of adoption in favor of adoptive parents who previously adopted their child outside of the United States. I was told that it's especially helpful in case of the death of a parent, for example. If the child does not have a certificate from the U.S. showing that they are the child of the deceased parent, that in some instances they will not be entitled to that parent's possessions, etc.

At any rate, it sounds as if this won't be necessary for much longer.