If you have decided to adopt independently, you are going to need a (strong emphasis here) reputable adoption attorney to help you. An experienced adoption lawyer can answer your questions and address other concerns.
You should get recommendations of attorneys from friends, relatives, and adoptive parent support groups and also see if the local Bar Association or the Better Business Bureau has ever received complaints about a specific attorney.
For a list of questions you should ask when you are interviewing attorneys, see Parent Soup's checklist for adoption attorneys.
You might also want to discuss some of the following concerns with the lawyer:
Preplacement Counseling
Does the attorney think that birth parents should have counseling before the birth and placement of the child, and that it is okay for adoptive parents to cover this expense? Even if such counseling is not required in your state, we recommend that you suggest it and offer to pay for it. In most of the contested controversial cases, preplacement counseling did not occur.
