10 O.S. ' 7501 - 1.1

A.  Chapter 75 of this title shall be known and may be cited as the "Oklahoma Adoption Code".

B.  The Oklahoma Adoption Code shall be composed of eleven articles:

Article 1.  State Policy and General Definitions.

Article 2.  Jurisdiction, Venue and Choice of Law.

Article 3.  Adoption of Minors.

Article 4.  Medical and Social Histories.

Article 5.  Adoption Proceedings.

Article 6.  Paternity Registry.

Article 7.  Adult Adoptions.

Article 8.  Adult Adoptee Services.

Article 9.  General Provisions.

Article 10.  Subsidized Adoption Programs.

Article 11.  Studies and Committees.

C. All statutes hereinafter enacted and codified in Chapter 75 of this title shall be considered and deemed part of the Oklahoma Adoption Code.

D. The provisions of the Oklahoma Adoption Code shall not invalidate any adoption heretofore granted by any court.

10 O.S. ' 7501 - 1.2

A.  The Legislature of this state believes that every child should be raised in a secure, loving home and finds that adoption is the best way to provide a permanent family for a child whose biological parents are not able or willing to provide for the child's care or whose parents believe the child's best interest will be best served through adoption.  The purpose of the Oklahoma Adoption Code is to:

1.    Ensure and promote the best interests of the child in adoptions and to establish an orderly and expeditious process for movement of adoption matters through the courts;

2.    Affirm that the parent-child relationship is fundamental and that all adoption laws should be fair to the child and to each parent of the child;

3.    Affirm the duty of the biological parents to provide appropriately for the care of the child unless custody of the child has been transferred either voluntarily or involuntarily;

4.  Affirm the duty of a noncustodial parent to:

a.   provide financial support for the parent's biological child, and otherwise exercise parental responsibilities,

b.   maintain a parent-child relationship, regardless of the absence of any court order to that effect, and

c.   provide for the appropriate financial support of the mother of the child during her term of pregnancy;

5.   Affirm the duty of a male person who has sexual relations with a female person outside of marriage to be aware that a pregnancy might occur;

6.   Affirm the duty of the biological father of a child who is to be born or who is born outside of marriage to exercise his parental responsibilities for the child.  This includes the duty to inform himself about the existence and needs of any such child and to exercise parental responsibilities toward that child even before birth;

7.    Encourage prebirth planning for adoption as a means of facilitating adoption of a child into a permanent family as soon as possible.  To that end, the Oklahoma Adoption Code provides for a prebirth notice of a plan for adoption and for procedures by which a putative father may give his consent or otherwise respond to the notice;

8.   Ensure that children placed for adoption will be raised in stable, permanent loving families whose qualifications for adoption have been properly evaluated in light of the child's needs;

9.   Promote and strengthen the integrity and finality of adoptions by limiting the time and circumstances for a consent to be withdrawn or a challenge to the adoption filed; and

 10.    Recognize the right of all children who have been adopted to have access to information about their social and medical history.

B.   It is the intent of the Legislature to balance the privacy rights of all parties to an adoption while clarifying when and to whom information may be released.  The Legislature seeks to promote voluntary reunions, provide for confidential intermediaries, and collect and maintain social and medical information relating to the adoption in the recognition that all children should have access to knowledge about their heritage.

10 O.S. ' 7501 - 1.3

As used in the Oklahoma Adoption Code:

1.  "Adoptee" means an individual who is adopted or is to be adopted;

2.  "Adult" means an individual who has attained eighteen (18) years of age;

3.  "Minor" means any person who has not attained the age of eighteen (18) years;

4.   "Child-placing agency" means any child welfare agency licensed pursuant to the Oklahoma Child Care Facilities Licensing Act and authorized to place minors for adoption;

5.    "Contested proceeding" means any proceeding pursuant to the Oklahoma Adoption Code in which an interested party enters an appearance to contest the petition;

6.  "Department" means the Department of Human Services;

7.   "Direct placement adoption" means any adoption in which the minor is not placed for adoption by the Department of Human Services or a child-placing agency;

8.    "Guardian" means an individual, other than a parent, appointed by a court to be the guardian of the person of a minor;

9.    "Parent" means an individual who is the biological or adoptive parent of a child or who is legally recognized as a mother or father of a child.  The term "parent" does not include an individual whose parental relationship to a child has been terminated;

 10.    "Permanent relinquishment" means the voluntary surrender of the rights of the parent or guardian with respect to a minor, including legal and physical custody of the minor, to a child-placing agency, Department of Human Services or any person with the assent of the court, by a minor's parent or guardian, for purposes of the minor's adoption;

 11."Putative father" means the father of a minor born out of wedlock or a minor whose mother was married to another person at the time of the birth of the minor or within the ten (10) months prior to the birth of the minor and includes, but is not limited to, a man who has acknowledged or claims paternity of a minor, a man named by the mother of the minor to be the father of the minor, or any man who is alleged to have engaged in sexual intercourse with a woman during a possible time of conception;

 12.   "State" means any state, territory, or possession of the United States, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia; and

 13."Stepparent" means an individual who is the spouse or surviving spouse of a parent of a minor, but who is not a legal parent of the minor.

[ Back ]