25 signatures reached
To: Members of the Georgia General Assembly, Family Court Judges, Child Welfare Agencies, and Lawmakers Across the United States
Change Family Court Laws for Sibling Rights After Adoption
Petition to Change Family Court Laws for Sibling Rights After Adoption
To whom it may concern,
I am petitioning for changes to family court and adoption laws to protect the bond between siblings who are separated through foster care and adoption. Too many older siblings are forced to lose contact with their younger brothers and sisters, even after spending years helping raise, protect, and care for them when their parents could not. These sibling relationships are not temporary friendships — they are family bonds built through love, responsibility, sacrifice, and survival.
In many cases, older siblings become caregivers long before the state becomes involved. They feed their younger siblings, comfort them, help them through hard times, and act as parental figures when no one else does. Yet after adoption, these same siblings can suddenly lose all legal rights to contact, visitation, or even updates about the children they helped raise. This causes emotional pain and trauma for both the older and younger siblings.
We believe family court laws should recognize the importance of sibling relationships and create protections that allow continued contact when it is safe and healthy for the children involved. Courts should consider the emotional bond between siblings before completely cutting off communication after an adoption. Older siblings who played a major caregiving role should have the ability to request visitation, letters, phone calls, or supervised contact when it is in the best interest of the child.
This petition asks lawmakers and family courts to:
- Protect sibling relationships during and after foster care and adoption cases.
- Allow courts to grant sibling visitation rights when appropriate.
- Consider the caregiving role older siblings played in the child’s life.
- Give siblings a legal voice in family court proceedings.
- Encourage open or semi-open adoptions that allow safe sibling contact.
No child should lose the people who loved and protected them simply because they were adopted into another home. Siblings deserve the chance to remain connected, especially when those bonds helped them survive difficult childhoods.
We ask lawmakers, judges, child welfare agencies, and communities to support reforms that keep families connected and protect sibling relationships for future generations.
Why is this important?
People should join this petition because sibling bonds are some of the strongest and most important relationships a child can have, especially during difficult childhoods involving foster care, neglect, or family separation. Many older siblings step into parental roles by protecting, raising, feeding, and emotionally supporting their younger brothers and sisters when adults fail to do so. Yet after adoption, those same siblings can be completely cut off from the children they helped care for, causing heartbreak and emotional trauma on both sides. Supporting this petition means supporting children’s emotional well-being, mental health, and sense of identity. It is about giving family courts the ability to recognize when sibling relationships deserve protection and ensuring that adoption does not automatically erase the bonds between brothers and sisters who love each other. Change is needed so future families do not have to suffer the pain of losing contact with siblings simply because the system failed to keep them connected.