Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 77.djvu/570

 538

58 Stat. 194; 68 Stat. 248.

PUBLIC LAW 88-241-DEC. 23, 1963

[77 STAT.

§16-304. Consent (a) A jpetition for adoption may not be granted by the court unless there is filed with the petition a written stutenient of consent, as provided by this section, signed and acknowledged before an officer authorized by law to take acknowledgments, before a representative of a licensed child-placing agency, or before the Board of Commissioners of the District, or unless a relinquishment of parental rights with respect to the prospective adoptee has been recorded and filed as provided by section 32-786. (J,) Consent to a proposed adoption of a person under twenty-one years of age is necessary: (1) from the prospective adoptee, if he is fourteen years of age or over; and also, (2) in accordance with the provisions of any one of the following paragraphs: (A) from both parents, if they are or were married and are both alive; or (B) from the living parent of the prospective adoptee, if one of the parents is dead; or (C) from the mother in the case of a prospective adoptee born out of wedlock, unless the prospective adoptee has been legitimated according to the laws of any jurisdiction, in which case the consent of the father is also required if he is alive; or (D) from the mother of a prospective adopter born in wedlock, if the illegitimacy of the prospective adoptee has been established to the satisfaction of the court; or (E) from the c^urt-appointed guardian of the prospective adoptee; or (F) from a licensed child-placing agency or the Board of Commissioners in case the parental rights of the parent or parents have been terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction or by a release of parental rights to the Board or licensed child-placing agency, based upon consents obtained in accordance with paragraphs (A) through (E) of this subdivision, and the prospective adoptee has been lawfully placed under the care and custody of the agency or the Board: or (G) from the Board of Commissioners in any situation not otherwise provided for by this subdivision. (c) Minority of a natural parent is not a bar to that parent's consent to adoption. (d) "When a parent whose consent is hereinbefore required, after such notice as the court directs, cannot be located, or has abandoned the prospective adoptee and voluntarily failed to contribute to his support for a period of at least six months next preceding the date of the filing of the petition, the consent of that parent is not required. (e) The court may grant a petition for adoption without any of the consents specified in this section, when the court finds, after a hearing, that the consent or consents are withheld contrary to the best interests of the child. (f) A person over twenty-one years of age may be adopted, on the petition of the adopting parent or parents and with the consent of the prospective adoptee, if the court is satisfied that the adoption should be granted. § 16-305. Petition for adoption A petition filed for the adoption of a person shall be under oath or affirmation of the petitioner and the titling thereof shall be sub-

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