PRACTICE FOCUS
Deborah E. Spivack is a principal attorney in the firm’s Family Law practice group based in Southern Jersey. Deborah’s practice focuses exclusively on adoption and family planning in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Deborah has extensive experience representing Adopting Parents, Birth Parents, Agencies, and Children (upon appointment by a court) in a broad range of adoption matters, including those which are private/independent, agency, identified, stepparent, second parent, guardian, legal custodian adoptions, or adoptions by individuals standing in loco parentis to the child, as well as adoptions of foreign-born children present in the United States. Many of these adoption cases have complex legal issues such as interstate placements, adoption subsidy, non-participating or contesting parties, international parties, immigration problems, Indian Child Welfare Act implications, state child protective services, and special needs or older children. The hallmark of Deborah’s practice is providing personalized, practical, and informative legal advice that enables clients to make informed decisions about family planning while considering their short and long-term goals.
Deborah also has extensive experience in assisted reproductive technology law matters. She frequently represents Intended Parents, Gestational Carriers, Donors or Donees of sperm, eggs, or embryos in drafting Assisted Reproductive Technology agreements to protect their rights and in pursuing court orders explicitly recognizing parental status before and after the birth of a child to ensure legal permanency.
Additionally, Deborah is a fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA), a membership-by-invitation-only association of 470 attorneys, law professors, and judges in the United States and throughout the world who are recognized as having extensive experience in the practice of adoption law, ART law, or both. AAAA Fellows ascribe to a practice-specific code of ethics that fosters best practices in adoption and assisted reproductive technology law.
Deborah is also a frequent speaker at professional conferences, including the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education.
ADDITIONAL ADDRESS:
P.O. Box 3433
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
- Adoption Cases:
- Clients:
- Adopting parents
- Birthparents
- Agencies
- Stepparents
- Grandparents
- Guardians
- Loco Parentis caretakers
- Children
- Types of Adoption
- Private/Independent
- Agency
- Identified
- Intrafamily
- Stepparent
- Second parent
- Guardian/ Legal Custodian
- Custodian or Loco Parentis
- Foreign-born children present in the U.S.
- Birth Parent Representation
- Adoption Subsidy Negotiation
- Adoption Agency Representation
- Foreign Re-Adoption and Special Immigration Juvenile Status
- Complexities:
- Interstate Placements
- Adoption Subsidy
- Non-Participating or Unknown Birthparent
- Contesting Parties
- International parties
- Immigration Problems
- Indian Child Welfare Act
- Assisted Reproductive Technology Cases:
- Clients
- Intended Parents
- Gestational Carriers
- Sperm Donors or Donees
- Ovum Donors or Donees
- Embryo Donors or Donees
- Gestational Carrier Agreements
- Donor Agreements
- Pre-Birth Orders/ Parentage Orders
- Confirmatory Adoption by Non-Genetic Parents
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS
-
“June 2023 Delaware Valley Adoption Council/ DVAC Legal Panel,” Presenter & Panelist, Delaware Valley Adoption Council, July 2023
- "Adoption and Family Building: Overview, Updates and Best Practices in 2023,” Presenter, Philadelphia Bar Association joint program sponsored by Pennsylvania Bar Institute, February 2023
- “Adoption & Family Building,” Presenter, Philadelphia Bar Association joint program sponsored by Pennsylvania Bar Institute, October 2021
- “Adoption Update and Assisted Reproductive Technologies Law” Presenter, New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, October 2020
- “Special Situations in Adoption," Presenter, New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (CLE), October 2019
PUBLICATIONS
RECOGNITIONS
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