Attorney Lynn Swank has been

a practicing attorney since 1974. She joined the family business after

graduating with her law degree and passing the bar, and her specialty

has always been adoption law.

Swank has seen numerous changes

in her field over the years and estimates she works on close to 80 adoption

cases a year, though she rarely sees the inside of a courtroom. This,

she says, is a good thing, as it means few of her cases are contested.

According to Swank, there are

six kinds of adoptions; private, state, agency, international, step-parent

and adult. The bulk of Swank's cases come from agency adoptions.

She also stated that private, international and agency adoptions typically

require a lot of assistance.

The adoption process starts

with a letter from prospective adoptive parents. This letter cites what

they feel are their qualifications and also what they are looking for

in a child. Swank recommends that this letter be given to family members,

friends, members of the church and an adoption attorney. The goal of the

letter is to get it in the hands of a birth mother or father who may be

considering adoption.

One of the problems that Swank

finds herself dealing with the most is trying to find the birth father

and alert him to his right to establish parental rights for the baby.

This process can take at least 30 days as a notice has to be either hand-served,

delivered or published as a legal notice.

Another obstacle is that adoptive

parents will find a birth mother before talking with an attorney and will

violate state law by paying for things such as medical expenses or room

and board for the mother. At this point, Swank tries to get the birth

mother in with an agency that handles these expenses and also helps both

the adoptive parent and the birth mother following the law.

Swank has seen a tremendous

rise in international adoptions. She cited the Hague Treaty of Adoptions

as a piece of legislation that will dramatically affect international

adoptions for the better. The treaty will level the playing field, so

to speak, and will have all agencies follow the same rules.

As it is now, each agency in

America works with a certain country or countries, but each country's

rules are different. For instance, in Russia, the adoption is completed

over there and information on the child and his or her history are extremely

limited. In China, there is a wealth of information given and the process,

which takes months, keeps the adoptive parents involved and in the know.

The other trend with international adoption that Swank has seen is the

rise in adoptions from Central and South America.

This also marks a big change

from when Swank started practicing, because more international adoptions

means more mixed culture families. "The highest number of available

children for adoption are either Asian or Hispanic," said Swank,

who has found that a high number of adoptive parents do not care what

race their child is. She does feel that this is an important issue to

think about, especially when it comes to how members of the family will

treat the child. Another thing that is important to consider, according

to Swank, is what one could handle with a child when it comes to special

needs or disabilities.

Swank has seen the cost of

adoptions rise over the years as well. Private individual adoptions could

start at $2,000-$3,000 but may increase to over $10,000 if the adoptive

parents pay for the birth mother's medical expenses. Agency adoptions

may start between $9,000 and $15,000 and could climb as high as $35,000,

depending on the child. The adoption process also varies greatly, ranging

from 50 days if everyone consents to many months.

One thing that is very distressing

to Swank is the trend of birth mothers abandoning their babies at a police

station or some such place. When this is done, it is hard to terminate

the rights of the father, the age of the baby has to be guessed, there

is no name, no medical history of the child's parents and their relatives.

"This is just a disaster

in every sense," said Swank. "Legally, medically, and psychologically,

it is a disaster."

Years ago, these children could

have been left at an orphanage but there are very few orphanages left

in the United States. Those that remain are now considered group homes

and many contain children with special needs. There are also limited homes

for birth mothers to go to to have their baby. One reason for this, according

to Swank, is a welfare system that has made it profitable to keep children.

Despite some alarming trends,

Swank still believes in adoption as a viable way to have a family. She

has also seen a rapid growth in surrogacies and assisted reproductive

technology. Her law office also specializes in these cases. There is a

lot to think about when considering adoption and attorneys like Swank

have the experience and knowledge to make the process go as smoothly as

possible.

To locate an adoption attorney,

near you, visit www.adoptionattorneys.org. Swank can be reached at 770-477-5318

or visiting www.swanklaw.com.