Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5 (2026)
Parties to adoption proceeding; consent of child
✓ current as of July 2026
- (1) There shall be made parties to the proceeding by process or by the filing therein of a consent to the adoption proposed in the petition, which consent shall be duly sworn to or acknowledged and executed only by the following persons, but not before seventy-two (72) hours after the birth of the child:
- (a) The parents, or parent, if only one (1) parent, though either be under the age of twenty-one (21) years;
- (b) If both parents are dead, then any two (2) adult kin of the child within the third degree computed according to the civil law; if one of such kin is in possession of the child, he or she shall join in the petition or be made a party to the suit; or
- (c) The guardian ad litem of an abandoned child, upon petition showing that the names of the parents of the child are unknown after diligent search and inquiry by the petitioners. In addition to the above, there shall be made parties to any proceeding to adopt a child, either by process or by the filing of a consent to the adoption proposed in the petition, the following:
- (i) Those persons having physical custody of the child, except persons who are acting as foster parents as a result of placement with them by the Department of Child Protection Services of the State of Mississippi.
- (ii) Any person to whom custody of the child may have been awarded by a court of competent jurisdiction of the State of Mississippi.
- (iii) The agent of the Department of Child Protection Services of the State of Mississippi that has placed a child in foster care, either by agreement or by court order.
- (2) The consent may also be executed and filed by the duly authorized officer or representative of a home to whose care the child has been delivered. The child shall join the petition by the child's next friend.
- (3) If consent is not filed, process shall be had upon the parties as provided by law for process in person or by publication, if they are nonresidents of the state or are not found therein after diligent search and inquiry, the court or chancellor in vacation may fix a date in termtime or in vacation to which process may be returnable and shall have power to proceed in termtime or vacation. In any event, if the child is more than fourteen (14) years of age, a consent to the adoption, sworn to or acknowledged by the child, shall also be required or personal service of process shall be had upon the child in the same manner and in the same effect as if the child were an adult.
Codes, 1942, § 1269-03; Laws, 1955, Ex. ch. 34, § 3; Laws, 1964, ch. 309, §§ 1, 2; Laws, 1998, ch. 516, § 13; Laws, 1999, ch. 507, § 1; Laws, 2002, ch. 533, § 1, eff. 7/1/2002.
Amended by Laws, 2023, ch. 516, HB 1149,§ 80, eff. 7/1/2023.
Amended by Laws, 2016, ch. 431, HB 1240, 19, eff. 4/18/2016.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 29
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1978–2024 · leading case: Woodell v. Parker, 860 So. 2d 781 (Miss. 2003).
Woodell v. Parker, 860 So. 2d 781 (Miss. 2003). “See Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5 (Supp.2003). [4] Also according to Miss.”
Bryant v. Cameron, 473 So. 2d 174 (Miss. 1985). “Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5 (1972). Any consent to adoption, verbal or otherwise, given prior to that time is legally ineffective.”
S.R. v. P.L.H., 748 So. 2d 853 (Miss. Ct. App. 1999). “” However, in this case, the natural father surrendered his parental rights and consented to the adoption by separate instrument filed pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 93-17-5 (Rev.1994). The appellants cite Hill stating that a guardian ad litem should be appointed because, as in…”
Smith v. Malouf, 722 So. 2d 490 (Miss. 1998). “Miss.Code Ann. § 93-17-5 (1994) provides in relevant part: In the case of a child born out of wedlock, the father shall not be deemed to be a parent for the purpose of this chapter, and no reference shall be made to the illegitimacy of such child [during the adoption process].”
Doe v. Smith, 200 So. 3d 1028 (Miss. 2016). “Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5 (1), (4) (Rev. 2013).”
Matter of Adoption of a Minor, 558 So. 2d 854 (Miss. 1990). “Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5 dealing with the parties and consent to adoption merely requires that a sworn consent to the adoption be filed at least three days after birth of the child, and in the absence of this consent process must be had upon all interested parties.”
Swayne v. L.D.S. Soc. Servs., 795 P.2d 637 (Utah 1990). “40 ¶ 1510 (Smith-Hurd Cum.Supp. 1989). [27] See, e.g., Neb.”
Hemphill-Weathers v. Farrish, 779 So. 2d 167 (Miss. Ct. App. 2001). “Miss.Code Ann. § 93-17-5 (Supp.2000). This statute regarding necessary parties for an adoption is useful since the Supreme Court has employed the traditional canon of construction “that each section of the Code dealing with the same or similar subject matter must be read in pari…”
Humphrey v. Pannell, 710 So. 2d 392 (Miss. 1998). “Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5 (1994), which requires that "parents" be made parties to the adoption proceedings, does not consider the father of an illegitimate child to be a "parent" for the purposes of the statute at all.”
Ethredge v. Yawn, 605 So. 2d 761 (Miss. 1992). “Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5 (1972). But any other single act may suffice if it be such that it will allow a court to find by clear and convincing evidence that the abandoning parent has a settled purpose to forgo all duties and relinquish all parental claims to the child.”
Grafe v. Olds, 556 So. 2d 690 (Miss. 1990). “2d 271 (1967) was controlling law; (2) a valid consent was given; (3) there was no valid reason to allow withdrawal of consent; (4) the natural mother physically and legally abandoned the child upon the signing of the consent in accordance with Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5 and…”
Olson v. Flinn, 484 So. 2d 1015 (Miss. 1986). “It is noted that this grandparent did not have a court ordered right of visitation and was not entitled to notice of the subsequently filed adoption under Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5 . This Court is not presented here with the question of due process rights to notice of the…”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5(1) — 2 cases
Woodell v. Parker, 860 So. 2d 781 (Miss. 2003). “See Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5 (Supp.2003). [4] Also according to Miss.”
S.R. v. P.L.H., 748 So. 2d 853 (Miss. Ct. App. 1999). “” However, in this case, the natural father surrendered his parental rights and consented to the adoption by separate instrument filed pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 93-17-5 (Rev.1994). The appellants cite Hill stating that a guardian ad litem should be appointed because, as in…”
— Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5(1)(i) — 1 case
In Re Adoption of JDS, 953 So. 2d 1133 (Miss. Ct. App. 2007).
— Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5(3) — 1 case
Sumrall v. Brown, 230 So. 3d 321 (Miss. Ct. App. 2017).
— Miss. Code Ann. § 93-17-5(l)(c)(ii) — 1 case
S.R. v. P.L.H., 748 So. 2d 853 (Miss. Ct. App. 1999). “” However, in this case, the natural father surrendered his parental rights and consented to the adoption by separate instrument filed pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 93-17-5 (Rev.1994). The appellants cite Hill stating that a guardian ad litem should be appointed because, as in…”
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