§ 19-8-24.Advertising restrictions and requirements; “inducements” defined; unlawful inducements; penalties; exemption for personal communications; civil actions
Chapter 8. Adoption · Article 1. General Provisions · Last amended 2022 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-8-24
Plain-English Summary
Georgia strictly limits how adoptions are arranged and paid for. Only three kinds of people may advertise that they will adopt children or arrange adoptions: a child-placing agency, a prospective adoptive parent who has a valid, approved preplacement home study report, and a State Bar of Georgia attorney representing such a parent. The ban reaches every medium — print, television, radio, letters, handbills, internet and social media postings, even spoken statements. Advertisers must identify themselves: an advertiser that isn’t a child-placing agency includes its license number issued by the Department, an attorney lists a State Bar license number, and a hopeful adoptive parent states that he or she has an approved home study. Private communications by someone seeking to adopt or to place his or her own child are exempt from these advertising rules, and may include an attorney’s name, address and phone number.
Selling a child, or offering or conspiring to sell one, for money or anything of value is unlawful except as this article allows. So is holding out “inducements” — any financial help, from any source — to get a birth parent to part with a child. The section carves out four kinds of permitted payments, and each names who may pay: medical expenses for the pregnancy, birth and the child’s care, paid by a licensed child-placing agency or an attorney; counseling and legal services for a birth parent tied to the placement, paid by a licensed agency or an attorney; reasonable living expenses for the birth mother, paid by a licensed child-placing agency; and reasonable rent, utilities, food and maternity clothing and accessories, paid from a Georgia attorney’s trust account. Every such payment must be itemized in the report and affidavit filed under § 19-8-13(c) and (d).
The section also targets adoption fraud. It is unlawful to knowingly accept living expenses when the person knows or should have known she isn’t pregnant or isn’t a legal mother, to take expenses from one agency or attorney without disclosing payments from another for the same child, to lie to get expenses, or to fake a pregnancy or an intent to place a child when that causes someone to spend money or take steps toward adoption in reasonable reliance.
Any violation is a felony punishable by a fine of up to $10,000, one to ten years in prison, or both, plus restitution to a victim. A child-placing agency or a person seeking to adopt or place a child who is damaged by a violation may also sue for damages, treble damages, reasonable attorney’s fees and litigation expenses. The section was last amended in 2022.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I advertise that I want to adopt a baby in Georgia?
Only if you have a valid, approved preplacement home study report, and your advertisement must say so. Otherwise, advertising is limited to child-placing agencies and State Bar of Georgia attorneys representing a prospective adoptive parent with an approved home study. The section does exempt private communications, such as written or oral statements, by a person seeking to adopt, and those may name an attorney to contact.
Can adoptive parents pay a birth mother’s expenses in Georgia?
Only through the four channels the section allows, and each names who may pay. Pregnancy, birth and newborn medical costs, and a birth parent’s counseling or legal services, may be paid by a licensed child-placing agency or an attorney. Reasonable living expenses may be paid by a licensed child-placing agency. Reasonable rent, utilities, food and maternity clothing and accessories may be paid from a Georgia attorney’s trust account. Other financial help counts as an inducement, and offering inducements is unlawful.
What is the penalty for selling a child or adoption fraud in Georgia?
Any violation of this section is a felony. On conviction, a person faces a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years, or both. The court can also order the person to pay restitution to a victim harmed by the violation. The same penalty applies to unlawful advertising, offering inducements and the birth-mother fraud offenses.
Is it illegal for a birth mother to take expenses from two adoptive families in Georgia?
It is unlawful for a person to knowingly accept living expenses, or rent, utility, food and maternity expenses, from an adoption agency or attorney without disclosing that she is getting the same kind of expenses from another agency or attorney for the same child or unborn child. It is also unlawful to knowingly accept those expenses when she knows or should have known that she isn’t pregnant or isn’t a legal mother.
Can I sue someone who faked a pregnancy to get adoption money in Georgia?
Yes, you can bring a claim. It is unlawful to misrepresent a pregnancy or an intent to place a child when the person knows or should have known it was false and the lie causes someone to spend money or take steps toward adoption in reasonable reliance. A person seeking to adopt who is damaged may sue for damages, treble damages, reasonable attorney’s fees and litigation expenses. Whether a claim succeeds is for the court to decide.
Amendment History
Laws 1990, p. 1572, § 5; Laws 1991, p. 94, § 19; Laws 1991, p. 1640, § 11; Laws 2004, Act 511, § 1, eff. July 1, 2004; Laws 2018, Act 285, § 1-1, eff. Sept. 1, 2018; Laws 2021, Act 140, § 12, eff. July 1, 2021; Laws 2022, Act 782, § 19, eff. May 2, 2022.