1. a. A biological parent shall not receive any thing of value as a result of the biological parent's child or former child being placed with and adopted by another person, unless that thing of value is an allowable expense under subsection 2.
b. Any person assisting in any way with the placement or adoption of a minor person shall not charge a fee which is more than usual, necessary, and commensurate with the services rendered.
c. If the biological parent receives any prohibited thing of value, if a person gives a prohibited thing of value, or if a person charges a prohibited fee under this subsection, the person is guilty of a simple misdemeanor.
2. An adoption petitioner of a minor person shall file with the court, prior to the adoption hearing, a full accounting of all disbursements of any thing of value paid or agreed to be paid by or on behalf of the petitioner in connection with the petitioned adoption. This accounting shall be made by a report prescribed by the court and shall be signed and verified by the petitioner. Only expenses incurred in connection with the following and any other expenses approved by the court are allowable:
a. The birth of the minor person to be adopted.
b. Placement of the minor person with the adoption petitioner and legal expenses related to the termination of parental rights and adoption processes.
c. Pregnancy-related medical care received by the biological parents or the minor person during the pregnancy or delivery of the minor person and for medically necessary postpartum care for the biological parent and the minor person.
d. Living expenses of the mother, permitted in an amount not to exceed the cost of room and board or rent and food, and transportation, for medical purposes only, on a common carrier of persons or an ambulance, for no longer than thirty days after the birth of the minor person.
e. Costs of the counseling provided to the biological parents prior to the birth of the child, in accordance with section 600A.4, subsection 2, to the biological parents prior to the release of custody and any counseling provided to the biological parents for not more than sixty days after the birth of the child.
f. Living expenses of the minor person if the minor person is placed in foster care during the pendency of the termination of parental rights proceedings.
All payments for allowable expenses shall be made to the provider, if applicable, and not directly to the biological parents. The provisions of this subsection do not apply in a stepparent adoption.
[C77, 79, 81, § 600.9]
94 Acts, ch 1046, §14, 15; 94 Acts, ch 1174, §7
Referred to in § 600.8
1994 amendment by 94 Acts, ch 1174, §7 does not apply to adoption proceedings pending on July 1, 1994; 94 Acts, ch 1174, §22
Iowa General Assembly
Search: Iowa Code 1997
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