Public Act 93-0510

HB3552 Enrolled                      LRB093 09879 LCB 10127 b

    AN ACT concerning adoption.

    Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section  5.   The  Adoption  Act  is  amended by changing
Section 8 as follows:

    (750 ILCS 50/8) (from Ch. 40, par. 1510)
    Sec. 8.  Consents to adoption and surrenders for purposes
of adoption.
    (a)  Except  as  hereinafter  provided  in  this  Section
consents or surrenders shall be required in all cases, unless
the person whose consent  or  surrender  would  otherwise  be
required shall be found by the court:
         (1)  to  be  an unfit person as defined in Section 1
    of this Act, by clear and convincing evidence; or
         (2)  not to be the biological or adoptive father  of
    the child; or
         (3)  to have waived his parental rights to the child
    under Section 12a or 12.1 of this Act; or
         (4)  to  be  the  parent  of  an  adult sought to be
    adopted; or
         (5)  to be the father of the child as  a  result  of
    criminal sexual abuse or assault as defined under Article
    12 of the Criminal Code of 1961; or.
         (6)  to  have  been indicated for child sexual abuse
    as defined in the Abused and  Neglected  Child  Reporting
    Act that involved sexual penetration of the mother; or
         (7)  to  be  at  least 5 years older than the mother
    and the mother was under  the  age  17  at  the  time  of
    conception of the child to be adopted.
    (b)  Where  consents  are  required  in  the  case  of an
adoption of a minor child,  the  consents  of  the  following
persons shall be sufficient:
         (1) (A)  The mother of the minor child; and
         (B)  The father of the minor child, if the father:
              (i)  was  married  to the mother on the date of
         birth of the child or within  300  days  before  the
         birth  of  the child, except for a husband or former
         husband who has been found by a court  of  competent
         jurisdiction  not to be the biological father of the
         child; or
              (ii)  is  the  father  of  the  child  under  a
         judgment for adoption, an order of parentage, or  an
         acknowledgment of parentage or paternity pursuant to
         subsection   (a)   of  Section  5  of  the  Illinois
         Parentage Act of 1984; or
              (iii)  in the case of a child placed  with  the
         adopting  parents  less  than  6 months after birth,
         openly lived with the child, the child's  biological
         mother,  or  both,  and  held  himself out to be the
         child's biological father during the first  30  days
         following the birth of the child; or
              (iv)  in  the  case  of a child placed with the
         adopting parents less than  6  months  after  birth,
         made  a good faith effort to pay a reasonable amount
         of the expenses related to the birth  of  the  child
         and to provide a reasonable amount for the financial
         support  of  the  child  before the expiration of 30
         days following the birth of the child, provided that
         the court may  consider  in  its  determination  all
         relevant   circumstances,  including  the  financial
         condition of both biological parents; or
              (v)  in the case of a  child  placed  with  the
         adopting parents more than 6 months after birth, has
         maintained  substantial  and  continuous or repeated
         contact with the child as  manifested  by:  (I)  the
         payment  by  the  father  toward  the support of the
         child of a fair and reasonable sum, according to the
         father's  means,  and  either  (II)   the   father's
         visiting  the child at least monthly when physically
         and financially able to do so and not prevented from
         doing so by the person or authorized  agency  having
         lawful  custody  of the child, or (III) the father's
         regular communication with the  child  or  with  the
         person  or  agency having the care or custody of the
         child, when physically  and  financially  unable  to
         visit  the  child  or prevented from doing so by the
         person or authorized agency having lawful custody of
         the child.  The subjective  intent  of  the  father,
         whether   expressed   or  otherwise  unsupported  by
         evidence of acts specified in this sub-paragraph  as
         manifesting   such  intent,  shall  not  preclude  a
         determination that the  father  failed  to  maintain
         substantial  and continuous or repeated contact with
         the child; or
              (vi)  in the case of a child  placed  with  the
         adopting  parents  more than six months after birth,
         openly lived with the child  for  a  period  of  six
         months   within  the  one  year  period  immediately
         preceding the placement of the  child  for  adoption
         and  openly held himself out to be the father of the
         child; or
              (vii)  has  timely  registered  with   Putative
         Father Registry, as provided in Section 12.1 of this
         Act, and prior to the expiration of 30 days from the
         date   of   such   registration,   commenced   legal
         proceedings   to   establish   paternity  under  the
         Illinois Parentage Act of 1984 or under the  law  of
         the jurisdiction of the child's birth; or
         (2)  The  legal guardian of the person of the child,
    if there is no surviving parent; or
         (3)  An agency, if the child  has  been  surrendered
    for adoption to such agency; or
         (4)  Any  person or agency having legal custody of a
    child by court  order  if  the  parental  rights  of  the
    parents  have  been  judicially terminated, and the court
    having jurisdiction of the guardianship of the child  has
    authorized the consent to the adoption; or
         (5)  The  execution and verification of the petition
    by any petitioner who is  also  a  parent  of  the  child
    sought to be adopted shall be sufficient evidence of such
    parent's consent to the adoption.
    (c)  Where  surrenders  to  an agency are required in the
case of a placement for adoption  of  a  minor  child  by  an
agency,  the  surrenders  of  the  following persons shall be
sufficient:
         (1) (A)  The mother of the minor child; and
         (B)  The father of the minor child, if the father:
              (i)  was married to the mother on the  date  of
         birth  of  the  child  or within 300 days before the
         birth of the child, except for a husband  or  former
         husband  who  has been found by a court of competent
         jurisdiction not to be the biological father of  the
         child; or
              (ii)  is  the  father  of  the  child  under  a
         judgment  for adoption, an order of parentage, or an
         acknowledgment of parentage or paternity pursuant to
         subsection  (a)  of  Section  5  of   the   Illinois
         Parentage Act of 1984; or
              (iii)  in  the  case of a child placed with the
         adopting parents less than  6  months  after  birth,
         openly  lived with the child, the child's biological
         mother, or both, and held  himself  out  to  be  the
         child's  biological  father during the first 30 days
         following the birth of a child; or
              (iv)  in the case of a child  placed  with  the
         adopting  parents  less  than  6 months after birth,
         made a good faith effort to pay a reasonable  amount
         of  the  expenses  related to the birth of the child
         and to provide a reasonable amount for the financial
         support of the child before  the  expiration  of  30
         days following the birth of the child, provided that
         the  court  may  consider  in  its determination all
         relevant  circumstances,  including  the   financial
         condition of both biological parents; or
              (v)  in  the  case  of  a child placed with the
         adopting parents more than six months  after  birth,
         has   maintained   substantial   and  continuous  or
         repeated contact with the child  as  manifested  by:
         (I)  the payment by the father toward the support of
         the child of a fair and reasonable sum, according to
         the father's means, and  either  (II)  the  father's
         visiting  the child at least monthly when physically
         and financially able to do so and not prevented from
         doing so by the person or authorized  agency  having
         lawful  custody  of  the child or (III) the father's
         regular communication with the  child  or  with  the
         person  or  agency having the care or custody of the
         child, when physically  and  financially  unable  to
         visit  the  child  or prevented from doing so by the
         person or authorized agency having lawful custody of
         the child.  The subjective  intent  of  the  father,
         whether   expressed  or  otherwise,  unsupported  by
         evidence of acts specified in this sub-paragraph  as
         manifesting   such  intent,  shall  not  preclude  a
         determination that the  father  failed  to  maintain
         substantial  and continuous or repeated contact with
         the child; or
              (vi)  in the case of a child  placed  with  the
         adopting  parents  more than six months after birth,
         openly lived with the child  for  a  period  of  six
         months   within  the  one  year  period  immediately
         preceding the placement of the  child  for  adoption
         and  openly held himself out to be the father of the
         child; or
              (vii)  has timely registered with the  Putative
         Father Registry, as provided in Section 12.1 of this
         Act, and prior to the expiration of 30 days from the
         date   of   such   registration,   commenced   legal
         proceedings   to   establish   paternity  under  the
         Illinois Parentage Act of 1984, or under the law  of
         the jurisdiction of the child's birth.
    (d)  In making a determination under subparagraphs (b)(1)
and  (c)(1), no showing shall be required of diligent efforts
by a person or agency to encourage the father to perform  the
acts specified therein.
    (e)  In  the  case  of the adoption of an adult, only the
consent of such adult shall be required.
(Source: P.A. 90-15, eff. 6-13-97; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)