Utah committee reviews draft adoption amendments focusing on out‑of‑state recruitment, fees and birth‑parent protections

Representative Katy Hall, sponsor of draft adoption amendments, presented a broad package of changes to Utah's private adoption law during the joint Senate/House Judiciary Interim Committee on Oct. 28, 2025. The draft—intended for further work before a possible vote—would change licensing rules for child‑placing agencies, increase transparency around fees and payments to expectant parents, expand counseling for birth parents and create a 30‑day court window to seek revocation of consent if consent was obtained by fraud, duress or undue influence.

Hall said there would be no vote on the measure that day because "we got it out so late" and staff and stakeholders still need to work through several policy points. "We feel like there's still a couple of policy points we're working through," Hall said, and asked committee members for feedback. She described the draft as an effort to address several problems raised in earlier committee meetings, including "out‑of‑state recruitment, concealing birth mother payments with opaque billing practices, [and] paternity circumvention." Hall warned the matter "is a delicate policy with a lot of emotions around it."

Why it matters: supporters and many committee members said the proposed changes are meant to protect birth parents from coercion and to increase transparency in what proponents described as a growing, costly adoption market. Opponents and some adoption providers urged caution, saying some provisions could raise costs or shift adoptions toward larger institutional providers.

Key provisions presented

- Licensing and nonprofit requirement: The draft would bar issuance or renewal of a license for a licensed child‑placing (bridal leasing)…