2006 Code of Virginia § 63.2-1215 - Legal effects of adoption

63.2-1215. Legal effects of adoption.

The birth parents, and the parents by previous adoption, if any, other thanany such parent who is the husband or wife of one of the petitioners, shall,by final order of adoption, be divested of all legal rights and obligationsin respect to the child including the right to petition any court forvisitation with the child. Except where a final order of adoption is enteredpursuant to 63.2-1241, any person whose interest in the child derives fromor through the birth parent or previous adoptive parent, including but notlimited to grandparents, stepparents, former stepparents, blood relatives andfamily members shall, by final order of adoption, be divested of all legalrights and obligations in respect to the child including the right topetition any court for visitation with the child. In all cases the childshall be free from all legal obligations of obedience and maintenance inrespect to such persons divested of legal rights. Any child adopted under theprovisions of this chapter shall, from and after the entry of theinterlocutory order or from and after the entry of the final order where nosuch interlocutory order is entered, be, to all intents and purposes, thechild of the person or persons so adopting him, and, unless and until suchinterlocutory order or final order is subsequently revoked, shall be entitledto all the rights and privileges, and subject to all the obligations, of achild of such person or persons born in lawful wedlock. An adopted person isthe child of an adopting parent, and as such, the adopting parent shall beentitled to testify in all cases civil and criminal, as if the adopted childwas born of the adopting parent in lawful wedlock.

(Code 1950, 63-357; 1968, c. 578, 63.1-233; 1995, cc. 772, 826; 1997, c.690; 2000, c. 830, 63.1-219.22; 2002, c. 747; 2003, c. 229.)