Yes. When a birth mother or expectant mother contacts us, at Adoption Attorneys Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C., to help her find a secure, safe, and loving home for their recently born newborn or unborn baby, we will not involve any of the parent’s family or friends unless they want them involved. That is true even if they are not keeping the pregnancy or adoption secret. Many birth parents, wrestling with the decision to give up their baby for adoption, or more correctly, make an adoption plan for their baby, find the support of family and friends helpful, but that is the birth parent’s choice – not ours. This is even true for underage birth parents. The Indiana Adoption Code allows a birth parent under age 18 to give valid consent to adoption without the involvement of the birth parent’s parents or guardian. When working with us, no one will know of their adoption plan unless they share the information. Additionally, under Indiana law, adoption court proceedings are confidential and not open to the public.

Our contact information is below.  We will answer your questions and provide you the information you seek, without cost or obligation on your part. In other words, talking to us is FREE and does NOT mean you ever have to talk or text with us, again. Our adoption attorneys have 90 YEARS OF COMBINED EXPERIENCE practicing adoption law. We can help you find an AMAZING, WONDERFUL adoptive home for your precious baby whether you live in Scottsburg or Indianapolis, Bedford or Columbus, Vincennes or Warsaw, or South Bend or Ft. Wayne, or any Indiana county or city in between, or ANYWHERE in Tennessee, Mississippi, or Kentucky.

We have lots of wonderful, carefully screened, loving families, FROM INDIANA AND ALL OVER THE COUNTRY(married, single, Lesbian, and Gay) who cannot wait to welcome a baby into their hearts and homes and are happy to assist with living expenses to the full extent allowed by law.

You can call, text, and or email us anytime —call: 317-575-5555, text: 317-721-2030, email: AdoptionSupport@kirsh.com, or a Facebook message:  https://www.facebook.com/KirshandKirsh/. We answer our office phone 24 hours a day, every single day. We try to respond to emails and text messages within minutes of receipt.

POSITIVE ADOPTION LANGUAGE DISCLAIMER:  Please understand that these blog posts are written in a way to use language that people use when searching for help with their adoption plans.  Unfortunately, while all of us understand what positive adoption language means, most expectant moms that come to us at first do not understand what that means. The most common search term on the Internet for expectant moms is “how do I give up my baby for adoption”.  If we do not include those words in our blog posts, and instead put “how do I create an adoption plan for my baby” then our website will not show up in most expectant mom’s search results in Google.

The laws of Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky and some other states do not require a woman, thinking about giving up her baby for adoption, or more correctly “making an adoption plan for their baby,” to identify the father of the child. If the birth mother got pregnant in Indiana, the following blog explains her options: http://www.indianaadoption.com/can-i-give-up-my-baby-for-adoption-even-if-the-father-doesnt-want-me-to/.

But what if the father knows of the pregnancy and possibly the adoption but won’t consent to the adoption even though the birth mother thinks adoption is best for the unborn child? What if the father of the baby just wants to hurt the mother or cause problems for her and thinks he can do so by not consenting to the adoption? How does the birth mother know if the father, with whom she is no longer in a relationship, will really help support and parent the child if she does not make an adoption plan for the child, if he says he will?

Indiana Law provides answers to these questions and applies if either the birth mother or the prospective adoptive parents live in Indiana. In other words, if the birth mother works with an adoption law firm in Indiana, like the Adoption Law Firm of Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. (“Kirsh & Kirsh”) or an adoption agency in Indiana, and she lives in Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, or many other states, the Indiana adoption attorney or adoption agency can use Indiana Code § 31-19-3, the Pre-birth Notice Statute, to accurately assess the sincerity and commitment of a birth father who said that he objects to the adoption or refuses to sign a consent to the adoption. In the “old” days, the birth mother and adoptive parents could either decide not to do the adoption for fear of what the father might do or proceed with an adoptive placement, give the father notice of the adoption AFTER the child’s birth, and hope he would not challenge. This complicated already impossibly difficult decisions.

In the 1990s, Adoption Attorney Steven M. Kirsh of the Adoption Law Firm of Kirsh & Kirsh proposed to the Indiana General Assembly the idea of allowing (but not requiring) adoption attorneys and adoption agencies to give notice of an intended adoption to the alleged father of the unborn child BEFORE THE BABY’S BIRTH. The Indiana General Assembly liked Steve Kirsh’s idea and enacted the Pre-birth Notice Statute in Indiana. Since then other states have followed Indiana’s lead and enacted similar laws.

Therefore, if either the birth mother or prospective parents live in Indiana, the Indiana adoption attorney or adoption agency can give the father of the unborn child notice of the adoption. If the pre-birth notice is correctly given (another reason to involve an experienced adoption attorney, well versed in the laws of Indiana, like Kirsh & Kirsh) and the father does not file a paternity action within 30 days of the receipt of the notice – not the birth of the baby, but the receipt of the notice, the father is deemed to have consented to the adoption, just as if he signed the consent to adoption.

In filing a paternity action, the birth father asks the court to make him legally and financially responsible for the child for the next 18 to 21 years. The Indiana General Assembly has taken the position that if a man undertakes that responsibility, his parental rights will be honored. If not, he cannot object to the adoption of the child. Because Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky, like Indiana, allow a man to file a paternity action before the baby’s birth, the Indiana Pre-birth Notice Statute can be used if the birth mother or adoptive parents live in Indiana.

Over the last 35+ years, we at Kirsh & Kirsh have given many men pre-birth notice of an adoption. Rarely do men object to the adoption, but by using the Pre-birth Notice Statute, the birth mother and adoptive parents know where they stand when the baby arrives.

For more information about the Pre-birth Notice Statute or if you are pregnant and considering making an adoption plan, please contact us at Kirsh & Kirsh. We can help you find a loving, secure, and happy home for your precious baby, among our carefully screened, prospective adoptive parents. We can help you, without cost or obligation on your part. We will always treat you will kindness and respect. Of the many expectant mothers with whom we have worked over years, many, if not most, have needed help paying their living expenses while they were pregnant and during their postpartum recovery.

You can call, text and or email us anytime. To contact us—call: 317-575-5555, text: 317-721-2030, email: AdoptionSupport@kirsh.com, or Facebook message:  https://www.facebook.com/KirshandKirsh/. We answer our office phone 24 hours a day, every single day. We try to respond to emails and text messages within minutes of receipt.