I found this site, and these paragraphs are interesting. I think it's a good idea that you're getting a second opinion:

"Q: How are parental rights terminated in Ohio?
A: A natural parent may voluntarily give up parental rights to a child, as in the case of a parent permitting his or her child to be adopted by a stepparent.

If a child services agency moves to terminate parental rights against a parents wishes, it must have grounds to do so. In Ohio, grounds for termination include: abandonment or extreme parental disinterest; abuse and/or neglect of the child in question or abuse and/or neglect or loss of rights to another child; mental illness or deficiency; alcohol or drug-induced incapacity; felony conviction(s) and/or incarceration; the parents failure to make reasonable efforts to take steps requested by the child services agency in order to regain custody of the child; sexual abuse; failure to maintain contact with the child while the child is in the care of a child services agency; failure to provide support; a courts determination that the child is dependent and in need of services; a determination that termination of parental rights is in the childs best interests; the fact that the child has been in the care of a child services agency for 12 of 22 months; felony assault of a child or sibling; and murder or manslaughter of the childs sibling."

https://www.ohiobar.org/ForPublic/Resources/LawYouCanUse/Pages/LawYouCanUse-599.aspx

I agree, a second opinion is in order. I was here previously as Whosyermama (cant sign back in so gave up and came back with new name) so this might sound familiar to some. We had custody for 4 years and both parent's rights were terminated. Bio dad appealed and had parental rights reinstated, thus we could not adopt. We are in the process of adopting again 4 years later. Our attorney seems to thing that it is a slam dunk since there has been no contact from bio dad for all this time. It seems to me that contact 2 or 3 times a year constitutes extreme disinterest as well as bio dad not showing up for the final hearing.
These bios will get a free attorney (at least in our state) to fight for their parental rights if the child is in the system. Do you have guardianship? Are the girls "in the system"?

Horsepad, Check out a reply on the "Planning to Adopt" topic sent by Daisyduck. Had info about a federal act to help grandparents adopt.

its the Fostering Adoption act signed by George Bush in Oct of 2008. Since the parents have not been responsible for children, adoption should be an option. The Federal government pays states to enforce this law to be sure children stay with/in families. Social workers must address grandparents and other kin before proceeding with adoption. If they do not, the senators involved want to know and the money will be pulled from the state. Your lawyer may not be aware of the law. If you need further info on the law, contact Pat Owens at Grandfamilies of America. She and her partner are responsible for getting that law enacted. Let me know if I can be of help. Tell Pat, Peggy O'Connor referred you.

I am definately going to educate myself better about adoption laws. My daughter gave me her girls and signed off on her parental rights-something she has regretted because she can no longer use them to get money etc from me. I was a big enabler when they lived with her.

Sara-I found parents rights terminated interesting-bio's have filled most of the grounds for termination but girls are not under children services

Gooberpeas- I am not in the "system". I have legal custody.

Daiseyduck-I will look into the fostering adoption act. Hopefully, that will be my "playing card" in this mess.

what we did in Michigan:we had full guardianship for 4 years, no "system" involvement, which meant no adoption assistance. We hired an attorney, who petitioned the court to terminate both parents under the neglect/abuse statute-which includes abandonment and a petition to adopt. As his legal guardians we could consent to his adoption after TPR. At the 1st pretrial hearing it was determined the father had never been involved and his name wasnt on birth certificate so I just had to testify that within reason I believed him to be the Bio. Then, he was terminated. My daughter did not respond to the notice. I had to testify as to her lack of parenting time and no support. There is a statute stating a parent MAY be Term. if they have failed to visit or contact or support the child for a period of 2 yrs. or longer.. That was sticky for us because she had seen him a few times up to 18 months before the filing. A summons was issued against her ,and at the next pre-trial hearing, she showed up, cried, rolled her eys etc at my testimony. She was breifly on the stand, told several lies about lifestyl, living arrangement, income and then said she should have an attorney. She was given the opportunity and at the 3rd pre-trial, she didnt show but her attorney called. I once again had to testify as to why she was not capable of parenting her child. Then a termination trial date was set. She didnt appear then either, and she was terminated for neglect/abuse. I once ag ain had to testify as to her lifestyle and inability to parent. 4 weeks later we had a trial to consent to his adoption, then disolve our guardianship, have the judge order the adoption, and it was complete. All we had to pay was our $6,000.00 plus attorney fees. It was worth every day in court and ever dime we spent. We were lucky. She never contested the actions. We never thought she would, but there was always that fear. Afterward, I found out that this was a very sticky way to terminate and adopt as a guardian,. that it is difficult, but obviously not impossible as we found out. Im here if you have questions.

We adopted my GS and I didn't know any grandparent or foster parent to find out much of the process. When the adoption SW contacted us and gave us a list of the types of info and doc's we would need then I stressed.

I'm not sure if this is a requirement in Ohio but, we had to get a signed form from our Dr.'s stating that we were in Good Health to adopt. I had injured disc.'s in my neck a yr earlier and my husband had Prostate Cancer 3 yrs earlier (in remission). We were lucky that we both have a great relationship with our Dr.'s and they did state we were in good health. If, you have a good relationship with your Dr.'s ask if they have had to sign a form like that before and if they would sign off on one for you? I also met a foster parent later that has MS and she told me her Dr signed off that she was in good health and she uses a wheelchair at times. I do know that we also talked about who we would leave our grandson to if we passed and we told her our daughter and son in law and she told us to have papers drawn up.

I felt here in California that our adoption worker seemed very cold and even when we gave all the doc's she still drilled us...I am so glad it is all over and our gs won't have to deal with Bio's or Social services again...

Best of Luck, those kids deserve to be adopted by you...

I contacted Pat Owens of Grand Families via email yesterday and she wants me to call her which I will do. I have filed the paperwork requirements for the Petition to Adopt with my attorney. We are just sitting on it because he wants me to try to get daughter to sign off and she refuses. Part of the requirements in the Petition for Adoption was my doctor filling out health related paperwork on all 3 of us. In my report it states I have stage 4 cancer (in remission). My doctor wrote "without hesitation" on the question does he feel I can raise these girls. That is one of my fears, because of my illness, I will be rejected for adoption. I also fear because my husband is dead (suicide), they may hold that against me. I'm afraid they will think I am ok to be legal guardian but not ok to be their forever mom.

That is so wonderful of your Dr to write that for you, I didn't know if our State was the only state. I do know what you mean I feared that we would be rejected due to our age and injuries along with my husband's cancer DX.

You are on top of it for sure...I didn't know anyone (grandparent or foster) in California when we started our process. Our SW was very closed mouth on the process of adoption and seemed to enjoy dropping requirement bombs on us along with a deadline to get it done. I was so stressed out trying to work a full time job and care for my medical fragile gs. I needed to know the process because time was limited in my life for anything else.

We were threaten by Bio mom (not my daughter) that she was going to contest it before TPR and within the 6 mth afterwards that they have the right to do. I thought I was going to have a breakdown, which I think I did. Then 2 weeks before adoption my oldest daughter was DX with Cancer and I had to fly out to New Hampshire to be with her during surgery then, flew back the day before adoption.

I do have to say that when it is all over you will be so relieved and life will be sweet....We all love my grandson soooo much and even thou he has special needs and will have them for life we are grateful that we adopted him.