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Families and agencies urge lawmakers to clarify out-of-state surrender rules for adoptions
Summary
Adoptive parents, birth parents and adoption agencies told the Joint Committee on the Judiciary that inconsistent court interpretation of Massachusetts surrender forms for out-of-state births is delaying finalizations and urged passage of S.1046 to clarify jurisdictional choice.
The Joint Committee on the Judiciary heard repeated, often emotional testimony in support of S.1046 (an act relative to adoptions) after several families and adoption professionals described cases where judges declined to accept Massachusetts surrender forms signed by out-of-state birth parents.
Multiple adoptive parents told the committee their finalization hearings were delayed or canceled when some Probate and Family Court judges declined to recognize Massachusetts surrenders executed out of state. Amy Cleary described traveling to Georgia…
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