Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

Whose Rights Should Prevail? Toward A Child-Centric Approach To Revocation Of Birthparent Consent In Domestic Infant Abortion, David L. Thibodeaux

Belmont Law Review

Though overhaul of adoption laws across the United States has been nearly universal, there is still no uniformity among the states in approach to voluntary relinquishment of parental rights: the very issue at the heart of the controversial cases that sparked reform. This Note attempts to track the development of domestic adoption laws as they affect birthparent consent in infant adoptions, the competing policies driving these developments, and the way states have attempted to reconcile that friction. Part I of this Note provides an underpinning of adoption terminology by outlining the actors involved, the basic elements required for infant adoption …