Quick answer
Adoption in South Carolina generally moves through four stages: matching with a child or expectant parent, a home study (if unrelated), filing legal paperwork with the family court, and a final court hearing. Building Families guides adoptive families through agency, DSS, interstate, stepparent, and foster care adoptions from the first conversation to finalization.
What types of adoption does Building Families handle?
Building Families works with adoptive families across a range of situations:
- Domestic adoption: for families just beginning the process and for those who have already matched independently with an expectant mother.
- Independent and agency adoption: Building Families works with social workers statewide to support expectant parents, and handles agency adoptions when the adoptive family or expectant mother already has a South Carolina connection.
- Stepparent and relative adoption: often used to make legal a parent-child relationship that already exists in the home.
- Interstate adoption and ICPC compliance: for adoptive families or expectant parents who live in different states.
- Contested adoption: including notice requirements and termination-of-parental-rights issues.
- Foster care adoption: through the South Carolina foster care system once the child is legally free for adoption.
- Domesticating a foreign adoption: so South Carolina courts recognize a child’s legal status here.
What happens during a first consultation?
During an initial consultation, Building Families discusses the particulars of your adoption situation, South Carolina adoption law, the legal process to accomplish your goals, financial commitments, and what to expect at each stage of the process. This is the point where a family’s specific situation (domestic, interstate, stepparent, or foster care) shapes the roadmap that follows.
What are the typical steps after that?
While every adoption is different, families typically move through these stages:
- Contact Building Families to discuss your situation and options.
- Complete a home study (if unrelated to the child being adopted).
- If looking to match with an expectant parent, then build a family profile book and wait to be chosen by an expectant parent.
- If already connected with the child to be adopted, then move forward with your identified match (stepparent, relative, or foster care adoption).
- Prepare a delivery plan alongside the expectant parent and social worker.
- File the legal paperwork required to begin the adoption.
- Complete a post-placement report (if unrelated to the child being adopted).
- Meet with the guardian ad litem assigned to the case.
- Attend the final court hearing to finalize the adoption.
What if the birth parent lives in another state?
If you live in a different state than where the baby is born, Building Families completes the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) process on your behalf. Families typically wait in the birth state until ICPC approval is granted, which averages about one to two weeks. See our full ICPC guide for more detail on how that process works.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How long does an adoption take in South Carolina?
Timelines vary significantly by adoption type; domestic matching, stepparent, relative, interstate, and foster care adoptions each move at a different pace. Uncontested stepparent, relative, interstate, and foster care adoptions are typically finalized in 2 to 4 months.
What is a home study, and why is it required?
A home study is a review of a prospective adoptive family's home and background checks conducted before placement. It is conducted by a Certified Adoption Investigator (Building Families has two on staff) and is necessary in non-relative adoptions.
Can we adopt if we don't live in South Carolina?
Yes. Building Families represents both South Carolina families adopting from other states and out-of-state families adopting through South Carolina, and handles the required Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) process for either direction if it is a non-relative adoption.
What is the role of a guardian ad litem in an adoption?
A guardian ad litem is appointed to represent the interests of the child during the adoption proceeding.
The information contained here is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.