Should a birth mom who changes her mind have any financial repercussions?

If an adoptive family has spent money in conjunction with the adoption, as all do, should they be reimbursed by the birth mother, should she change her mind?

The way I see it is that it should be paid back but the adoptive parents should eat some of the costs as they knew it was a chance.

I honestly don't know what the laws are on that. They most likely vary by state.

Anyway, this happened to my cousin this week. She traveled for the birth and then after the birth, she changed her mind, and my cousin is currently driving home to her state, without the baby. It is just so sad.

RedBedroom wrote:The way I see it is that it should be paid back but the adoptive parents should eat some of the costs as they knew it was a chance.

That's the way I see it. In this day and age, you know there's a chance of it happening. You hear about would-be surrogates taking the money and running all the time.

Personally, I don't think a mother should have financial repercussions. What is the mother going to do, pay for the adoptive parents preparations and then pay for her own? Most mothers can't afford that. It's not realistic. It would be a nice thing to do, but it's not really realistic.

I agree it probably isn't realistic. But it's definitely not helping the case of adopting kids who need it, that's for sure. Something needs to be done.

RedBedroom wrote:If an adoptive family has spent money in conjunction with the adoption, as all do, should they be reimbursed by the birth mother, should she change her mind?

The way I see it is that it should be paid back but the adoptive parents should eat some of the costs as they knew it was a chance.

I honestly don't know what the laws are on that. They most likely vary by state.

Anyway, this happened to my cousin this week. She traveled for the birth and then after the birth, she changed her mind, and my cousin is currently driving home to her state, without the baby. It is just so sad.

That is sad. Yes I think that the Mother of the child should absorb some of the costs involved since she was in agreement before the birth.

Tony Marino wrote:

RedBedroom wrote:If an adoptive family has spent money in conjunction with the adoption, as all do, should they be reimbursed by the birth mother, should she change her mind?

The way I see it is that it should be paid back but the adoptive parents should eat some of the costs as they knew it was a chance.

I honestly don't know what the laws are on that. They most likely vary by state.

Anyway, this happened to my cousin this week. She traveled for the birth and then after the birth, she changed her mind, and my cousin is currently driving home to her state, without the baby. It is just so sad.

That is sad. Yes I think that the Mother of the child should absorb some of the costs involved since she was in agreement before the birth.

I agree. If she changes her mind after the fact, then she should bare the financial brunt of getting everything back in order (for everyone.)

Yes, I think the birth mother should share in the costs if she backs out before the birth.

After the baby has already been placed in the new home, I don't think the birth mother should have the option of changing her mind.

^ Agreed. She can change your mind during the pregnancy and all the way up to the birth, but after it's born and has been turned over to its new parents she shouldn't get to play Indian giver.