The Senate Judiciary Committee heard Sen. Zakas and Sen. Bray’s SB 332 on adoption matters. The bill does the following:
- amends provisions regarding adoption notices;
- requires, with exceptions, the attorney or licensed child placing agency obtaining a consent to adoption to provide to the person consenting to adoption the name and address of the court in which the adoption is filed;
- provides that a consent to an adoption is not required from the biological father of a child born out of wedlock who was conceived as a result of a crime in any jurisdiction in which the elements of the crime are substantially similar to certain crimes under Indiana law;
- amends the post-adoption visitation statute to indicate post-adoption contact does not affect the validity of a consent to adoption, waiver of notice, or the finality of adoption;
- amends provisions regarding: (1) when a putative father is not entitled to establish paternity; (2) application of notice provisions to the contesting of an adoption; (3) contesting an adoption; (4) withdrawing consent to an adoption; and (5) postadoption contact privileges;
- prohibits any person from challenging an adoption decree after the expiration period;
- makes the following changes to the crime of profiting from an adoption: (1) provides that the crime does not apply if the birth mother is not a resident of Indiana and the adoption takes place outside of Indiana; (2) increases, from $3,000 to $4,000, the allowable payments for certain costs and expenses;
- prohibits the State Department of Health from processing a birth certificate unless certain fees have been paid and the report summarizing the available medical, psychological, and educational records concerning the birth parents has been submitted to the State Department of Health.
An adoption attorney and Indiana Adoption Agencies United testified in support of the bill. The bill was amended by consent and passed as amended, 9-0.
Read the bill at: https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/bills/senate/332