Illinois Adoption

Every state reserves the right to make and enforce its own adoption laws. In Illinois infant adoption, a birth mother cannot give consent of placement until three days, or 72 hours, after the child is born. A birth father can give consent two weeks before the birth and can revoke it only three days after. A father's rights in Illinois are determined by his actions a month before the birth. He can marry the birth mother, register with the putative father registry, or indicate that he's financially supportive of the birth mother's expenses.

Adoption fees paid in Illinois infant adoption can cover a future birth mother's living, legal and medical expenses. The adoption hearing must take place in the county in which the adoptive or birth parents live. It can also take place in the county the child was born or where the agency is located. Adoptive parents must have lived in the state for six months before they can be placed with a child.

Stepparent adoptions are processed within a month or two and do not require a home study nor a criminal background check.

Gay adoption is permitted in Illinois adoption laws. There are no laws against any "reputable" individual of legal age being eligible for an adoption placement. Gay and lesbian couples can also jointly petition for adoption since 1995 if it's in the best interest of an adoptee. Gay or lesbian partners are also allowed to adopt one another's children if it is in the best interest of the adoptee. Illinois adoption laws do not identify sexual orientation as being a "relevant consideration."