There are different types of adoptions to consider when planning on growing your family through adoption. Brief descriptions of the types of adoption are provided below:

Agency Adoption:

Public: Usually financially supported and managed by the state, counties, or cities. This may cost the adoptive parent more than the private option, due to extended services.

Independent Adoption:

Private: An attorney deals with mostly infant adoptions, but can also deal with others. The private adoption may also be a facilitator in adoption.

Several Choices of Adoptions:

Open: Allows birthparents and adoptive parents to meet before the baby is born, as well as exchange addresses and phone numbers throughout the adopted child's life. It is also possible for the families to visit one another.

Semi-Open: The birthparents are able to pick the adoptive parents from a profile, and are able to stay updated by pictures, etc, through the connection of the adoption agency.

Closed: The birthparents and adoptive parents do not meet, exchange information, or contact one another.

International Adoption:

Choosing a country can be difficult. Countries that are frequently adopted from are: Russia, China, Romania, Guatemala, Vietnam, Cambodia, and India. An adoption agency or attorney can help start your search.

Foster Adoption:

Usually involve older children
Typically low cost because they are done through the state

Stepparent Adoption:

Over half of the United States Adoptions are stepparent adoptions.
A home study is usually conducted to insure the child's safety

The Adoption Process

Whether you have struggled with infertility, already have biological children and want to expand your family, or have the desire to make a difference in the life a parent-less child, adoption can be a very rewarding option to consider. Below you will find some general information about what the adoption process entails. The basic steps of the adoption process are as follows:

Choose the type of adoption
Select an agency or facilitator
Complete a home study
Wait for a placement
Finalize the adoption

What is the first step in the adoption process?

You will need to decide whether to adopt through a private or public agency. As you examine these options, you will discover there are advantages and disadvantages to each, so take your time and be thorough in your research.

What should I expect when I call the agency?

The agency may invite you to attend an orientation. The information given at orientation is very valuable. They will discuss their process in detail as well as give you an opportunity to ask specific questions, obtain their fee schedule and meet other families considering adoption. It is a good idea to attend more than one agency's orientation to compare procedures and philosophies and get a sense of which agency you will be most comfortable working with. When the orientation is complete, you will leave with an application to complete and return with an application or registration fee.

What is a "home study?"

After the agency has reviewed and accepted your application for adoption, you will need to complete a home study. The main goal of the home study is to evaluate the environment the child will be raised in and to help the adoptive parents prepare for parenting and the arrival of the child. There are several different ways to meet this state requirement. Your agency will advise you as to their preferred method. The assessment will include one or more visits with a social worker, one of which will take place in your home, and possibly some educational classes with other adoptive families. You will also be required to have a physical exam, fingerprints and a background check. The average time for completion of the home study is approximately two months.

How long will we have to wait for a child?

The waiting period varies depending on several factors. If you are adopting a Caucasian newborn, many agencies have a wait list of two to five years. This is due in part to the fact that adoptive parents and birthmothers are matched according to the requirements of both the adoptive parents and the birthmothers. Adopting a child of another race may reduce the waiting period significantly. International adoptions may take a year or more depending on the requirements of the foreign country.

When is the adoption finalized?

After the parental rights of the birthparents have been terminated; the child has been in the home for at least six months; and the social worker has submitted a recommendation for approval; a judge will finalize the adoption by awarding the adoptive parents all legal rights and responsibilities. This final step will vary with international adoptions as there are additional legal processes required, including those of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Department.

What is open adoption?

Open, or fully disclosed, adoptions allow adoptive parents, and often the adopted child, to interact directly with birth parents. Family members interact in ways that feel most comfortable to them. Communication may include letters, e-mails, telephone calls, or visits. The frequency of contact is negotiated and can range from every few years to several times a month or more. Contact often changes as a child grows and has more questions about his or her adoption or as families' needs change. It is important to note that even in an open adoption, the legal relationship between a birth parent and child is severed. The adoptive parents are the legal parents of an adopted child.

The goals of open adoption are:

To minimize the child's loss of relationships.
To maintain and celebrate the adopted child's connections with all the important people in his or her life.
To allow the child to resolve losses with truth, rather than the fantasy adopted children often create when no information or contact with their birth family is available.

Is open adoption right for our family?

Open adoption is just one of several openness options available to families, ranging from confidential, to semi-open (or mediated), to fully open adoption. In semi-open or mediated adoptions, contact between birth and adoptive families is made through a mediator (e.g., an agency caseworker or attorney) rather than directly. In confidential adoptions no contact takes place and no identifying information is exchanged.

Making an open adoption work requires flexibility and a commitment to ongoing relationships, despite their ups and downs. While this type of adoption is not right for every family, open adoption can work well if everyone wants it and if there is good communication, flexibility, commitment to the process, respect for all parties involved, and commitment to the child's needs above all.

There are many resources available to help you determine what level of openness might be best for your family. The chart included with this fact sheet may help you consider some pros and cons of open adoptions.

TALK WITH A COUNSELOR OR THERAPIST WITH KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE IN OPEN ADOPTION AND TALK WITH OTHER PARENTS.

What questions should our family consider in open adoption?

In open adoptions, families need to consider when and how much to tell a child about his or her birth family, and then if and how to involve him or her in that relationship. An adoption professional can help you address some of these issues. Some of the questions you may want to consider include:

At what age should a child be included in contact with his or her birth family?
What happens if one party decides to break off all contact?
What will the birth parents' role be in the child's life?
How will your child explain his or her relationship with birth relatives to his or her peers?
How will you handle other adopted siblings who have different levels of openness in their adoptions?

No one level of openness in adoption is best for everyone, and each adoption changes over time. Adoptee from all kinds of adoptions, from confidential to fully open, can be emotionally healthy. Using the resources listed on this fact sheet, as well as the following tables, you can decide what level of openness is best for your family.

Table of pros of each type of adoption for the involved parties
Table of cons of each type of adoption for the involved parties