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What if I decide I want to parent my child?
You can decide to parent your child any time before the TPR hearing. Generally speaking, once you have had the TPR hearing and the judge has granted relinquishment, you cannot change your mind and have your baby returned to you. The only exception to this is when a legal error has taken place.
A birth parent has thirty days to return to the court after the TPR hearing has taken place to request a new hearing due to a legal error. A new hearing is ony allowed if there is evidence that proves a legal error has taken place during the planning of the adoption placement. An example of a legal error would be if a mother or father were bribed or threatened to place the child for adoption. These are very serious accusations. If a birth parent feels that this type of legal error has happened to them, they must have concrete evidence to support their suspicions.
If a birth parent simply feels that they didn't know what they were doing when they terminated their parental rights, it may also be considered a legal error. (Again, this must occur no later than thirty days after the TPR hearing; any date past those thirty days is null and void). However, this misunderstanding would be very difficult to prove to any judge. There are many papers that a birthparent signs before the TPR hearing that states their knowlede of their legal action by terminating their parental rights. In addition to this, there is a record of your statements at the TPR hearing, stating (often in their own words) that the birth parent understands the implications of terminating their parental rights. Your work with your social worker is concentrated on giving you information and assessing your understanding of that information. If you should ever need further clarification or have a question, your social worker is there to help. You are also welcome to contact an attorney at any point in the process if you would like information or feel you need an attorney to advocate on your behalf. AOW has a group of attorneys on site that are members of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and are always available to birth parents to answer any legal questions.
