Under Mississippi law, any person may be adopted.

In Mississippi, the person that petitions the Court to adopt a child must have lived in the state for at least ninety days before filing the petition.

Along with the petition to adopt the child, a doctor’s certificate must be attached to the petition that shows the mental and physical condition of the child to be adopted. There is also a sworn statement of any property owned by the child attached to the petition.

Most adoptions occur when the mother and father of the minor child consent to the adoption and release their parental rights by law. This consent form may not be signed until seventy-two hours after the child is born, and once the release is signed it may not be arbitrarily withdrawn.

Once the petition is filed, the Chancellor must determine if either the child has been deserted or abandoned, or that the natural parents lack moral fitness.

If both of the natural parents to do not consent to the adoption, then a Petition to terminate parental rights must also be filed with the Court.