Art. 1177.  Hearing

A.  The application for court approval of adoptive placement shall be set for hearing in chambers, confidentially, and in a summary manner within forty-eight hours of its filing.

B.  At the hearing, the prospective adoptive parents shall testify under oath concerning their fitness to receive the child into their care and custody, including but not limited to:

(1)  Their moral fitness, previous criminal records or validated complaints of child abuse or neglect, if any.

(2)  Their mental and physical health.

(3)  Their financial capacity and disposition to provide the child with food, clothing, medical care, and other material needs.

(4)  Their capacity and disposition to give the child love, affection, and guidance and to undertake the responsibilities of becoming the child's parents.

(5)  The adequacy of the physical environment of their home and neighborhood for the placement of the child.

(6)  The names and ages of other family members who would reside with the child in the prospective adoptive home and their attitude toward the proposed adoption.

(7)  The stability and permanence, as a family unit, of the proposed adoptive home.

Acts 1991, No. 235, §12, eff. Jan. 1, 1992.