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.)