                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO POST-ADOPTION CONTACT AND COMMUNICATION AGREEMENTS (§
63.2-1220.2)

A. In any proceeding for adoption pursuant to this chapter, the birth parent(s)
and the adoptive parent(s) of a child may enter into a written post-adoption
contact and communication agreement. A post-adoption contact and communication
agreement may include, but is not limited to, provisions related to contact and
communication between the child, the birth parent(s), and the adoptive parent(s)
and provisions for the sharing of information about the child, including sharing
of photographs of the child and information about the child&#8217;s education,
health, and welfare. Unless the parental rights of the birth parent or parents
have been terminated pursuant to subsection E of &#xA7; 16.1-283, a local board
of social services or child welfare agency required to file a petition for a
permanency planning hearing pursuant to &#xA7; 16.1-282.1 may inform the birth
parent or parents and shall inform the adoptive parent or parents that they may
enter into such an agreement and shall inform the child if he is 14 years of age
or older that he may consent to such an agreement.

B. Any post-adoption contact and communication agreement entered into by the
birth parent(s) and the adoptive parent(s) of a child shall include
acknowledgment by the birth parent(s) that the adoption of the child is
irrevocable, even if the adoptive parent(s) do not abide by the post-adoption
contact and communication agreement, and acknowledgment by the adoptive
parent(s) that the agreement grants the birth parent(s) the right to seek to
enforce the post-adoption contact and communication provisions set forth in the
agreement. The petitioner for adoption shall file such agreement with other
documents filed in the circuit court having jurisdiction over the child&#8217;s
adoption.

C. In no event shall failure to enter into a post-adoption contact and
communication agreement with identified adoptive parent(s) after a valid
entrustment agreement or consent to the child&#8217;s adoption is executed, or
failure to comply with a post-adoption contact and communication agreement,
affect the validity of (i) the consent to the adoption, (ii) the voluntary
relinquishment of parental rights, (iii) the voluntary or involuntary
termination of parental rights, or (iv) the finality of the adoption.

D. No birth parent(s) or adoptive parent(s) of a child shall be required to
enter into a post-adoption contact and communication agreement.

HISTORY: 2010, c. 331; 2019, cc. 65, 84.