We contacted our lawyer to get the ball rolling on a number of things, but most importantly our wills and to to prepare for A. to adopt the baby. While we’re waiting to meet with her I find myself wanting to know how the second parent adoption works – will we need a home study, do we have to wait till the baby is six months old before she can adopt?, etc. (Having a home study and waiting six months seems so freaking ridiculous to me!) When I google for this information I find lots of great resources but they all seem to be out of date with respect to Mass.achusetts legalizing same sex marriage. Does our marital status change any of this? So if there are an MA readers out there that have any info, I’d love to know. Thanks.
Recent Comments
 | m on The End. |
 | Allie on The End. |
 | K on MA Second Parent Adoption |
 | Nancy on About |
 | Kathleen on About |
12 comments
Comments feed for this article
October 16, 2007 at 8:42 am
tbean
Hi–former MA resident here. We couldn’t start TTC before we left MA, unfortunately, but we did go to an AI orientation at Fenway health clinic in Boston. At the orientation, the women running it mentioned that since the marriage ruling, she knows of couples who have been able to have both the homestay and the waiting period waived in the second-parent adoption process. So–I would definitely ask about that when you see a lawyer. Hope this is helpful!
October 16, 2007 at 9:19 am
Melody
Seems like since marriage is legal in MA, A’s name should just automatically go on the birth certificate. Is that not the case? In a hetero marriage, when the woman gives birth don’t they automatically put her husband’s name on the birth certificate unless she specifies otherwise? Just curious.
October 16, 2007 at 9:48 am
e.
after jumping through a few hoops prior to birth her same will go on the bc from birth, but we still have to have her adopt the baby for future protections and because as soon as we cross states lines we are “not married.” it’s ludicrous.
October 16, 2007 at 11:26 am
E
The home study will be waived and you definitely don’t have to wait six months (our adoption was finalized at 3 months and could have been sooner had we pushed.) I think our lawyer is the best in the valley (she might be yours as well) e-mail me if you would like her name.
good luck!
October 5, 2010 at 9:50 am
Molly J
I know you completed your adoption a few years ago. But I was hoping to get the name of your lawyer?
Thanks,
Molly
October 16, 2007 at 11:27 am
Jude
I don’t know if you have to wait or not, but my impression was that you do. We haven’t even asked about it yet because we were told we needed to wait a while back and we just went with it. We just try not to leave the state too much.
(And we don’t have adoption money just yet.)
Is your lawyer local? We’ll need to find someone at some point.
xo
October 16, 2007 at 12:00 pm
e.
Jude,
Our lawyer is local (Noho). We met with her way back when we were trying to us a KD and she drafted our contract. I’ll let you know what we find out and am happy to refer you to her. IKWYM about adoption money…not sure where that will come from. Ugh.
E, I am going to email you to see if you used the same lawyer. Thanks!
October 17, 2007 at 8:47 am
Kathleen
We haven’t actually *done* it yet, but did meet with a lawyer before Q was born, and she said the home study would certainly be waived and that it could happen much faster than 6 months. Seemed like it could happen in a few months, esp if you do all the paperwork before birth.
Not sure if you have the same lawyer as us, but if you do, she also suggested doing a temporary “emergency proxy” in which you legally give A the power to have custody of the baby or make decisions about its health should you be unable to do so. This way, in the in between time before the adoption (I think it lasts 60 or 90 days), and esp at the hospital, there is no question that she is the parent and will be making any decisions about the baby should something happen to you. This seemed like a good plan, so we did this. We haven’t proceeded with the adoption yet, something about being caught up with other things!, I’d definitely recommend doing as much as you can before the baby arrives!
October 5, 2010 at 10:19 am
Molly J
I know you completed your adoption a few years ago. But I was hoping to get the name of your lawyer?
October 18, 2007 at 7:53 am
Username
You can put both names on the bc right away if you are married in MA, but it is not legally binding. You still need to do a co-parent adoption. Waive everything- residency, notice, home study etc. You really don’t need a lawyer. We called our local family/probate court and they sent out the paperwork. Fill it out and send it back. Cost is about $20 after getting things notarized and documented. If you’ve missed something they will call and tell you what you need. We’ve done it 4 times in MA now.
Congratulations. I’ve enjoyed reading.
August 30, 2011 at 10:13 pm
K
hi!
i know you posted this info years ago, but my wife and i have a new 4 month old son and need to get going with the adoption. we are married so i know we are fine here in MA, but want to have all bases covered of course. we met with a lawyer who charges $2000 flat fee – can we really do it ourselves through the court? and it’s legit? any info you could pass on about that would be great – we’re in the boston area…. how did you go about the paperwork yourselves? was it tricky or confusing? thanks! K
June 18, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Sara
Is this statement really true???
“You can put both names on the bc right away if you are married in MA, but it is not legally binding. You still need to do a co-parent adoption. Waive everything- residency, notice, home study etc. You really don’t need a lawyer. We called our local family/probate court and they sent out the paperwork. Fill it out and send it back. Cost is about $20 after getting things notarized and documented. If you’ve missed something they will call and tell you what you need. We’ve done it 4 times in MA now.”
If so how long does it take to become a resident in MA?