Legal News

Adoption

News and issues about adoption, cross-cultural adoptions, celebrity adoption, adoptive parenting, birth parenting, reunions, and more.

Virginia Delays Vote on Adoption Regulations

Aug 18, 2011

The Virginia State Board of Social Services recently voted to extend the public comment period before voting on new state adoption standards.

Revised adoption regulations were proposed two years ago, and earlier this year were approved by Governor Bob McDonnell's office and the state attorney general. However, some faith-based adoption agencies and other socially conservative action groups protested to the social services board about non-discrimination language in the regulations.

Star of The Help Will Adopt

Aug 15, 2011

Viola Davis, star of the current film adaptation of the best-selling novel The Help and two-time Tony Award winner, is in the process of adopting a child.

The actress announced the impending addition to her family one day before her 46th birthday, in an interview with E! News at the Hollywood premiere of The Help.

Denise Richards Adopts Baby Girl, Still in Touch With Ex-Husband Charlie Sheen

Jul 26, 2011

Denise Richards, star of Wild Things and The World is Not Enough, has adopted a baby girl, Eloise Joni.

Richards, the ex-wife of former Two and a Half Men star, Charlie Sheen, named the baby after her mother who passed away from cancer in 2007.

Richards started the adoption process nearly two years ago but kept it secret.

"Some people think if a celebrity wants a baby, they get one the next day," Richards told Us Weekly magazine.

Two celebrities consider growing their families through adoption

Jul 19, 2011

Melissa Joan Hart, who as a teenager starred in the television shows Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, recently told OK! Magazine she is considering adoption.

Hart and her husband Mark Wilkerson are already parents to two boys, 5-year-old Mason and 3-year-old Brady, but Hart told OK! she comes from a family of eight and wants a big brood of her own.

The 35-year-old actress said she might adopt after she is no longer able to have children herself.

New York preps for baby adoption boom

Jul 15, 2011

In the wake of New York’s legalization of gay marriage, adoption lawyers in the state are readying for an anticipated drastic uptick in adoptions. Same-sex couples will officially be able to legally marry on July 24, and thousands of couples are expected to say, “I do.”

Unmarried couples—regardless of sexual orientation—can adopt in the state, but starting a family is a natural step after marriage.