Can Adoption in Texas Be Reversed?

 Posted on June 13, 2024 in Adoption

Most adoptions have an experienced attorney to guide the process and ensure all paperwork is properly filled out and filed and all legal procedures are followed. Yet even attorney-guided adoptions that follow all laws and rules can occasionally go very wrong, causing an adoption reversal. If you are facing such a heartbreaking situation, you need a highly skilled Texas adoption attorney to help you through this difficult time.

DFPS reports that 4,586 children were adopted across Texas during 2021—a number that is down from 2020 when 5,270 found loving homes with adoptive parents. The number of children being adopted from Texas foster care has steadily increased from 2016 through 2022, although older children are still not as likely to be adopted as toddlers and babies.

More than half of all children and teens in the state are adopted by relatives—usually grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Most adoptive parents find their lives are significantly enriched by their newly adopted children and cannot imagine life without them.  On rare occasions, however, there are unusual situations where Texas adoptions are reversed.

Who is Allowed to Petition to Have an Adoption Reversed in Texas?

It is extremely rare for an adoption to be reversed, but there are a few exceptions to the rule. An adoption may be terminated or reversed by petition of one of the following parties:

• The adoptive parents can ask the court to reverse the adoption. This would usually be under circumstances where an older child was adopted, and the adopted parents feel as though they are not able to form a bond with the child. In this situation, the judge must be persuaded that reversing the adoption is in the best interests of the child.
• The birth parents can file a petition for reversal if they feel they were in some way forced to sign away their parental rights or if they think they made a mistake by agreeing to the adoption. Texas adoptive parents have ten days after consenting to the adoption to withdraw that consent. After ten days, it becomes irrevocable unless it can be proven that the consent was obtained through duress or fraud.
• If the adopted child is old enough, he or she can ask the court to be returned to the biological parents. The child might claim the relationship with their adoptive parents is not in their best interests.

What Are Some Situations That Would Warrant an Adoption Reversal?

Virtually every decision made on behalf of children in Texas and across the nation is based on the best interests of the child. Child custody during a divorce is based on the best interests of the child, and a potential adoption reversal is also based on whether the reversal is in the child’s best interests. An adoption reversal would only be considered under a very narrow set of circumstances, including:

• The best interests of the child—no matter who filed the petition—would be served by reversing the adoption. As an example, if the adoptive parents are found to be abusive, then the judge might determine that a reversal is in the best interests of the child.
• The time allowed for the birth parents to change their minds has not passed, and the birth parents are asking to have the adoption reversed.  
• The birth parents can show they were unduly pressured or forced to consent to the adoption or that there was fraud involved.

Contact a Harris County, TX Adoption Lawyer

If you are birth parents who feel you were tricked into signing away your parental rights, adoptive parents who feel the adoption is not in the best interests of the child, or an adoptive child who wants your adoption reversed, you need knowledgeable legal assistance. It is not an easy task to convince a judge that an adoption reversal is in the best interests of the child. Contact The Cusic Law Firm, P.C. at 713-650-1866 to speak to a highly skilled Houston, TX adoption lawyer regarding an adoption reversal. Your initial consultation is free, with no obligation.