Raising the child in another family: foster care or adoption

After the birth, parents may decide not to take care of the child themselves, because they see no possibilities to do so. They are given time to consider whether or not to give up the child. The child is then first cared for in a temporary foster family.

Step-by-step

What happens after the intention not to take care of the child yourself?

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Steps

The first 3 months

Reflection time for the parent, temporary foster family for the child

If a parent intends not to take care of the child after the birth, it is important that the parent thinks carefully about that choice. If the situation changes, the parent may want to take care of the child again. That is why the parent is given time to think about it.

Help for parent

If the parent so wishes, she will receive guidance from Fiom or Siriz in making a decision about the care of the child. Fiom and Siriz can also provide practical help. This help can only be offered to the mother, but also to the father and mother together.

The guidance and help can also be done in secret.

Temporary foster family for 3 months

For these 3 months, the Child Protection Board asks the court to place the guardianship of the child with a guardianship organization. A guardian makes the important decisions about the child during those 3 months. For example, permission for vaccinations or hospitalization. The child is placed in a foster family that has been specially selected for quick, temporary care.

The parents may have contact with the child during this period, but this is not necessary.

After about 3 months

decision moment

The parents can decide to take care of the child themselves, or they can decide not to take care of the child themselves.

If you decide not to take care of the child yourself, the child will go to a foster family for 1 year. This is a foster family that is prepared to continue to care for the child after this year, through long-term foster care or adoption.

Disclaimer

The Child Protection Board asks the parents who will not take care of the child themselves to sign a waiver. That can be done in secret. The RvdK will then look for suitable foster families.

Choice foster family

The parents may indicate what the RvdK should pay attention to and what special wishes are for the child. For example, the parents can indicate whether the foster parents must have a particular religion. Or that the child keeps the first name they gave it. In addition, the RvdK examines whether the baby's health still imposes special requirements on the foster family.

The RvdK selects 3 prospective foster families. The RvdK discusses the reports of these 3 prospective foster families with the guardianship organization, and also with the parents if they wish. The parents do not see the names of the foster families. The Rvdk anonymizes the reports before they are sent to the guardianship organization.

The guardianship organization chooses the family, preferably together with the parents. The family is then asked whether they want to take care of the child and whether they want to adopt the child after 1 year. If the family says 'yes', the child is placed in that family.

Foster family that the parents already know

The foster family can also be a family that the parents already know and with whom there is good contact. That's called a network foster family. If a child grows up with a network foster family, in many cases that foster family needs prior permission from the RvdK. It is not allowed to just give a child to someone else. The care providers at Fiom or Siriz can provide more information about this.

After 1 year

New decision moment

After 1 year of caring for the child, the foster parents can ask the court whether they may adopt the child. The judge asks the parents whether they still want to renounce or have changed their mind. The parents can come to the court for this themselves, but that is not necessary. The RvdK or an employee of Fiom or Siriz can tell the parents more about this.

If a father did not know about the waiver by the mother, and wants to take care of the child, he can let the judge know until this hearing.

foster home

If the parents choose a foster family, they remain involved in important decisions about the child.

Adoption

If the parents opt for adoption, the adoptive parents will make all decisions for the child in the future. Upon adoption, the legal bond between the parents and the child is definitively broken.

Open or closed adoption

If the parents want to keep in touch with the child after adoption, they can opt for an open adoption. In the case of an open adoption, the RvdK looks for adoptive parents who want to participate in the contact between parent and child. Keeping in touch depends on the cooperation of the adoptive parents, because keeping in touch is not a right.

In a closed adoption there is no contact between the renunciating parents, the child and the adoptive parents.

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Still want to take care of the child yourself

Until the adoption decision, parents can change their mind and say that they still want to take care of the child themselves. They can discuss this with Fiom or Siriz. They can also contact the Child Protection Board about this.

The RvdK is once again conducting an investigation to see whether the parents can take care of the child and whether this is in the child's interest.

If the child has been given up for adoption and the adoption has been finalized by the court's decision, the parents no longer have the right to contact their child. Not even if they have opted for open adoption. It is only possible to have contact with their child if the adoptive parents agree.

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