Newlyweds can now adopt in New York State

Post Date: September 29th, 2011

Recently New York State amended a law that stated married couples had to be married for at least one year before being approved to become adoptive parents. The clarification states that:

“If the applicants have been married for less than one year, the Local Departments of Social Services (LDSS) or voluntary authorized agency may take the length into consideration when evaluating the applicants. However the agency cannot deny an applicant solely on the basis on the basis that the length of marriage is less than one year.”

According to the clarification, this amendment was made because applicants do not need to be married in order to adopt, so this law was restricting newlyweds who could have adopted if they remained unmarried.

The clarification also states that instead of looking at the length of a marriage, agencies should take into account how long the couple had been together before getting married, and also “the commitment and stability of the applicants’ relationship and their ability to plan and commit to an adoptive child” when deciding whether to work with a family.

If you are interested in growing your family through adoption please visit the adoptive parent section of the Adoption STAR website or contact the agency by email at info@adoptionstar.com or phone at (716)639-3900.