Georgia Adoption Laws

By Melissa McCall, J.D. | Legally reviewed by FindLaw Staff | Last reviewed August 20, 2024

If you are considering adoption in the State of Georgia, you should know the nuances of Georgia's adoption laws. In the United States, state law governs most domestic adoptions so you can expect variances in adoption law from state to state. To understand the adoption process in Georgia, we must examine its adoption laws.

This FindLaw article will explore Georgia's adoption laws.

Adoption Basics

Most adoptions feature a familiar paradigm: a person or couple adopts another person, usually a minor child, and becomes that child's legal parent. The prospective adoptive parents must meet the state's eligibility criteria before officially beginning the process. The prospective parents then work with a child-placing agency (public or private) to find a child to adopt. Once they find a child to adopt, they can begin the legal process by filing an adoption petition.

Most states, including Georgia, require a home study as part of the legal process, as is ensuring termination of the biological parent's parental rights. Once the prospective adoptive family has completed all the steps in the adoption process, they can ask the court to finalize the adoption.

The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children governs the adoption process for interstate adoptions.

Georgia Adoption Eligibility Criteria

Every state sets eligibility criteria for those wishing to adopt within its borders. Georgia's eligibility criteria include the following:

The adoptive parents must show that they lived in Georgia for at least six months before filing the adoption petition.
The adoptive parent or parents must be at least 10 years older than the child or adoptee
The adoptive parent must be at least 25 years old unless they're married and living with their spouse
Married couples must list their spouse on the adoption petition unless it is a stepparent adoption
Children 14 years of age and older must consent to the adoption

Consent

In Georgia, the biological parents must give up their parental rights before finalization of the adoption petition. This can happen in several ways, depending on the circumstances of the adoption.

In an ideal world, the birth mother and the birth father agree to terminate their parental rights. The court can terminate the biological parent's parental rights if doing so is in the best interests of the child.

Biological Fathers and Consent

Biological fathers can lose their parental rights if one of the following happens:

He does not legitimatize his parental rights within 30 days of learning of the adoption petition or
He does not tell the court or the adoption attorney that he has filed a petition to do so

If the court grants the biological father's petition for legitimation, the adoption can't proceed without his consent.

Georgia Adoption Process

Georgia has one domestic adoption process. Its process covers the following types of adoptions:

Private adoptions
Foster care adoptions
Stepparent adoptions
Close-relative or kinship adoptions

Adoption Process Steps

The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) identifies seven main steps to the adoption process, from the initial inquiry to finalization. These steps are:

Inquiry. Contact the DFCS to start the process. It provides more information on what to expect.
Information session. The second step is to attend an information session. The DFCS will help you learn more about the adoption process and requirements in this session.
Home visit, A Resource Development worker will visit your home after the information session, before pre-service training.
Adoption preparation training. Prospective adoptive families must complete a comprehensive adoption preparation program. Local DFCS offices and licensed adoption agencies offer these programs. The DFCS program (IMPACT) consists of 23 hours of classroom instruction. If you work with the DFCS, you will meet with a case manager to complete the assessment process and start the family evaluation process.
Family evaluation. The DFCS will conduct home visits, review financial records, and conduct child abuse and criminal records checks to complete their assessment of your family's eligibility. After successfully completing the adoption preparation training and family evaluation, the DFCS forwards the prospective adoptive parents to the Adoption Exchange.
Pre-placement. Qualified families and individuals identify a child to adopt. Many prospective adoptive families or adoptive parents join support groups to help them through the process.
Placement. Once the prospective adoptive parents identify a child to adopt, they undergo several pre-placement visits before signing a placement agreement.
Finalization. Your adoption attorney or adoption professional will help finalize the adoption. The adoption process concludes after the court issues an adoption decree, often including a name change and a new birth certificate.