Oregon's HB 2904, Mother's Rights, and Some Questions Answered

Reading about Oregon's pending bill, HB 2904, it made sense to me.  From reading about adoption in history and reading and hearing the narratives of so many mothers I have been fortunate to come across, the time a mother had before she was asked to sign the surrender papers for adoption is a frequent topic.  It seems as if, in many cases, if the law said the surrender papers could not be signed until two days, then she was asked or expected to sign at two days.  If it was four days, then she was asked or expected to sign at four.  It makes sense to me that the time period for her to make a decision before being able to sign surrender papers should be extended, where no one could ask or expect her to waive it when she really may not be ready to.  Mothers feeling like they did not have enough time to change their minds before it was too late has also been an issue.  HB 2904 was drafted to address these issues.  Unfortunately, reading around online, I have found some objections to this legislation.  I compiled some questions and asked Jane Edwards from First Mother Forum who knows a great deal about this bill if she could shed some light.

First, some brief points about the bill's requirements quoted directly from Jane's article at The Adoption Constellation Magazine:

• "Counseling covering the grief and loss inherent in adoption, resources which would enable mothers to nurture their child, the desirability of keeping children in the original family if mothers are unable to care for the children, and the benefits of continuing contact between mothers and children."
• "A minimum of 192 hours after birth before mothers may consent to adoption and 30 days to revoke consent.  These times are consistent with recommendations of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute."
• "An independent attorney, paid by a surcharge on adoption petition filing fees, to advise mothers of their legal rights before they consent to adoption."
• "Clear procedures including a one year time limit to file an action contesting an adoption, assuring quick resolution for mothers, prospective adoptive parents, and most importantly, for children."
• "Recovery of attorney fees if a mother prevails."
• "Return of the child if the mother prevails. Return has not been shown to have a negative impact on children.  In fact, both “Baby Jessica” and “Baby Richard,” whose cases caused a national outcry, have done well with their first families."

To read the rest of the article about the bill, click here (it's on page 14).

My questions for Jane.  Her answers appear quoted below each of my questions which have been bolded and appear in blue.

"How did HB 2094 come to be drafted?"

"HB 2904 was developed in response to birth mothers who had signed irrevocable consents under pressure shortly after birth before they understood the consequences of the surrender. These mothers tried to rescind their consent almost immediately but were not able to."
 
"Why is the bill important?"
 
Adoption experts agree children should be raised in their biological families if possible. In Oregon, children are being placed for adoption even though their families can and want to care for them. Oregon has twice the national rate of domestic, non-related infant adoptions.

The bill is important because it helps assure that mothers have the time and information to make informed decisions.

"What will the 8 day period before the surrender papers can be signed mean for a mother who does not want to parent her baby in those 8 days?"

Mothers do not have to care for their babies during the eight day waiting period. The babies can go home with the prospective adoptive parents or into foster care. Foster care sounds scary but keep in mind until recently almost all babies to be adopted went to foster care first, sometimes as long as 30 days to be sure they were not defective. As late as the 1960's or 70's some adoption agencies placed the babies at Oregon State University's home economics department where home ec students learned parenting skills by practicing on these babies. These babies stayed at OSU for a year with multiple care givers.

Let me add that even today babies do not always go home from the hospital with the adoptive parents. If they live a distance away or some reason cannot pick the baby up from the hospital, the baby goes into foster care or home with the birth mother until the adoptive parents arrive. I know of one case where the birth mother took her son home, breast fed him for a week, and then had to give him up when the adoptive parents arrived in Portland from another state.

"Also, about the 8 day period, some agencies have "respite care" as well as their own foster families. Would infants be able to reside in either of these entities during this 8 day period?"

"The infant can reside in respite care, wherever he would be taken care of. This would be something the adoption agency, the prospective adoptive parents, and the birth mother would work out."

"Does the bill force mothers to receive counselling, even if they don't want to? Why is this good/bad?"

The word "counseling" may be misleading. What is meant is "disclosures." The intent is that mothers must be informed of the effects of adoption on themselves and their child and what other options they may have (help from relatives, public assistance, parenting classes, and so on). Currently mothers may surrender their babies with no or misleading information. Laws requiring disclosures are common where one party has more information than the other such a real estate transactions..

"Do you think by extending the surrender period to 8 days and the period to revoke the consent to 30 days, without a mother being able to waive her right to use those entire time periods to make up her mind, takes away her ability to make choices whenever she wants to?"

Requiring a time for consideration (eight and 30 days) does not impede mothers choices. Mothers may sign after eight days and let the 30 day clock run. Oregon law requires a waiting period to complete many consumer transactions, buying a vacuum cleaner from a door-to-door salesman for example. Certainly mothers should have more protection from a hasty decision based on lack of information that purchasers of vacuum cleaners.

"How does this bill promote the welfare of the child and of the mother?"

The bill promotes the welfare of mothers and children because it keeps families together when possible. The bill also helps assure that mothers are comfortable with their decision when they decide on adoption. This is turn increases the likelihood of a positive relationship with the adoptive parents, important because almost all adoptions are open, i.e. provide for continuing contact.

Jane will continue to keep everyone updated on the bill where she blogs at First Mother Forum.

You can also go here and follow the bill directly and make comments directly on the bill.