About Ms. Linkner
Monica Farris Linkner received her B.A., Magna cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1972 and her J.D. in 1977 from Wayne State University. She has earned graduate credits in Adoption Studies from Southern Connecticut State University. Her practice has focused exclusively on adoption law and assisted reproductive technology cases for almost 15 years. She handles both Michigan and interstate cases. Ms. Linkner is a Fellow of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and was a member of the Academy’s Board of Trustees from 1995-99. She served as Secretary of the Academy from 1998-99, Chair of its Board of Grievances and Discipline from 2002-2007, and is currently on its Assisted Reproductive Technology Committee. She was a founding member of the State Bar Family Law Section’s Adoption Committee.
Ms. Linkner’s dedication to children and family-building has been deeply influenced by her own experience as an adoptive parent. She was instrumental in the process of adoption law reform in Michigan in the early 1990’s. Ms. Linkner was also an observer/advisor to the Uniform Adoption Act Drafting Committee of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws from 1991-94. She is the past president of the Family Tree, an adoption support and advocacy group. Ms. Linkner has written numerous articles and spoken widely on adoption issues. She has provided training in adoption law and practice to attorneys, judges, social workers and medical professionals, and authored the chapter on adoption for the 1997 treatise Michigan Family Law & Practice (West Publishing).
Ms. Linkner’s achievements have been recognized in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in American Women, and Who’s Who in the Midwest. She was recently honored with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption's Angel in Adoption Award, nominated by Michigan's senior senator Carl Levin.
Ms. Linkner’s experience includes all aspects of adoption law and assisted reproductive technology (“ARTs”) cases: direct placement, stepparent, intrafamily and contested adoptions, adoption appeals, surrogacies, gestational carrier, embryo donor and egg donor matters. Her approach is honest, ethical and compassionate in these most personal cases.
| Guiding Principles
By law, each party to an adoption has the right to independent representation by an attorney. I represent only one party in each adoption, which may be the birthparents, guardians, or adoptive parents. I strongly believe that each party’s legal interests should be represented, whether it be by this office, a licensed child placing agency or another attorney. I apply the same principle in surrogacy/gestational carrier cases, representing only one party in each case. Adoption and assisted reproductive technology are highly specialized and personal areas of the law, and should be treated as such.
I support and encourage your input in the adoption or ARTs process. I will assist you in formulating an educated plan, tailored to your individual needs to the extent permitted by law. Adoption and ARTs are highly emotional processes. I encourage counseling for all parties, and provide referrals to mental health professionals for this purpose.
Professional counseling and support can offer invaluable assistance in conjunction with adoption and ARTs cases.
The law requires that each prospective adoptive parent be found suitable based on a homestudy performed by a licensed child-placing agency. I do not have any other eligibility requirements for my clients, and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, age, sex, handicap, national origin, residence, marital status, income level or sexual orientation. 
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