When can the placing parents sign the adoption consent or relinquishment?
Virginia divides private adoptions into two categories: Independent and Agency adoptions.
In an independent adoption, the consent may not be executed until the adoptive child is at least in the third calendar day of life. A birth father may consent to the adoption prior to the birth of the child.
In an agency adoption, relinquishment may be executed immediately after birth, but the revocation period described below does not begin running until the third calendar day of life.
Can placing parents who have consented to an adoption change their mind and revoke their consent?
Possibly. Consent is irrevocable if the child who was relinquished was at least 10 days old and if the birth parent(s) were represented by independent legal counsel. Otherwise, there is an automatic seven-day revocation period.
