Adoption questions: Need Help.?

Question

I'm doing a project on adoption, and the steps to it, and i could really use some information from people who have been through it, or know somebody who has. My questions are:

- What are the steps-from finding an agency to when the baby comes home.(please try to keep it kinda simple-it needs to fit on a posterboard timeline).

-How much did it cost?

-Were you happy you adopted?

-How long did you have to wait?

-Do you meet the mother?

thank you so much.

any information would be appreciated.

Answer 1

I am single, so my adoption experience was a bit different.  I found the agency (state agency) that would let me adopt.  I went to several group meetings to make sure I was right and ready to adopt.  I wrote my life story and had a home study.  I did it myself so I only spent $35 to file the paperwork with the clerk of the court.  to adopt my son, it took maybe 6 months, but for my daughter (his half sister) it took like 2 months.  I'm very glad I adopted them, my best decisions ever.  never met their birthmother and never plan to.  they were taken, not surrendered.  they're 4 years apart so they weren't adopted at the same time.

Answer 2

-How much did it cost?

You mean how much does it cost to buy another persons child?

-Were you happy you adopted?

I think you might wanna see what the adoptee's say all of them, not just the "I am happy I  was sold to a nice family" ones.. and of course adopters are happy. They got a child...

-How long did you have to wait?

Not long as the baby snatching child "protection" systems always have new children being stolen. Like me and hundreds of thousands of us...

Answer 3

Interesting that you think the entire timeline for adoption is from the moment prospective adoptive parents contact an agency to when "the baby comes home." That's the timeline for the adoption industry -the business part of the deal- not for any of the people directly involved.

As has been mentioned, the beginning of the timeline for first parents is different. Same for the adoptees themselves. Even adoptive parents don't start the journey with "let's go to an adoption agency."

Each of these three sides of the triad start from different times and places, but they share an outcome: the timeline doesn't stop at the baby's birth, relinquishment, or arrival at the new (adoptive) home. For everyone involved, adoption lasts a lifetime.

Answer 4

The steps we went through, for foster care adoption were:

We spent 2 1/2 years researching adoption and talking about it

Called the agency and received paperwork

Wrote our "application", which included a regular application, criminal background check, financial information, an essay about our neighborhood, another essay about our family, and each of us (my husband and I) wrote an autobiography.  Our entire application filled a 1-inch binder.

ETA: Forgot to say, we also took classes on parenting special needs children during the application process.

Our adoption agency looked over our application and decided if we were approved.

We had a homestudy.

When our homestudy was completed, approved, and submitted to the agency, we began receiving bulletins.

For the last year and a half, we have gotten bulletins almost weekly.  We read over the bulletins and decide whether we feel that we can meet the needs of the child or children the bulletin is written for.

We haven't yet been to committee, but that will be the next step.  Once the caseworker for a child or sibling set decides that our family might be a good placement, then our social worker will represent us at a committee meeting, where they will choose between three families which will be best able to meet the child's needs.  Then, there will be a transition period, after which we will bring the child/ren home permanently.  We will have home visits once a month for a year, after which time the adoption will be finalized.

Our adoption could have been free, but we decided to go through an agency.  Our only expense has been gas money to get to the classes (an hour and a half away), and the homestudy, which was $1200.

So far, our wait has included 2 1/2 years of research and discussion, 8 months between when we started the process, and when we were approved, and another year and a half since we were approved.  So, almost 6 years.  Wow.  I didn't realize it had been that long.  In May, it will be six years since the first time we talked about adopting through foster care.

Sorry I can't answer the other questions for you.  Hope this helps!

Answer 5

What are the steps-from finding an agency to when the baby comes home.(please try to keep it kinda simple-it needs to fit on a posterboard timeline).

Steps: To Adopt Special Needs Siblings From Foster Care

1) Training and Home Study 11/2001-8/2002

2) Search for Waiting Children 8/2002-12/2002

3) Selected as Pre-Adoptive Parents of 5yr old girl and 1yr old boy in 12/2002

4) Meet and Transition children to new home 1/2003

5) Finalize Adoptions 12/2003

-How much did it cost? Nothing

-Were you happy you adopted? Very Very Very Happy we adopted our two little ones! And very happy they stayed together.

-How long did you have to wait? Start to Finish Training: 11/2001-12/2003 Finalization.

-Do you meet the mother? Yes, I met my children's mother and know the adoptive parents of 2 of the other 3 siblings... I also know where there mother is and that she is pregnant again with her 6th baby.

Answer 6

The first step is not to decide on an agency but to decide where you want to adopt - domestic or international.  If you go domestic you can choose private adoption (no agency but you have an adoption atty) or agency.  With either I would ask for referrals who have adopted that way.  With agencies there are some sites that rate them.  Once you decide on an atty or agency - you would get a homestudy done. Your state will define the timing and requirements (above the fbi and criminal background checks).  Then you will likely create a dear birthmother letter or profile.  If agency it is something that will be shown through the agency.  In Private you would likely advertise and would send this to a birthmom.  

Waiting times could be days, weeks or years.   We did private and had our son home in 6 weeks once our homestudy was approved.  In some cases - there is a wait just to get into the agency.

The cost also varies.  Agency fees vary and in private it also varies.

In our case the birthmother did not want to meet us so not in our case.

We are extremely happy to be parents and how our son came to us.

Hope that helps.

Noreen

Answer 7

Your project may be a great opportunity of show an adoption from ther perspective  of everyone involved. Each timeline would be drasticly different.

The mothers starting at conception, on to her decision to place and look into an agency then her final decision at the birth.

The PAPs starting with what lead to them deciding to adopt. throught the process and they being matched.

Between the 2 timelines you could include notes where you cross reference the 2 with the agencies involvment.

Gersom has a great diagram that involves these things and possible outcomes. Each adoption is so unique that it would be hard to represent the mass.

Good luck,

P.S.--- Last I checked "Answers" IS research, thats what it's here for !!! Would you rather he just copy and paste some report someone else already did?

Answer 8

I agree that you should do your own homework.  There are a ton of books and thousands of websites that give very detailed information on adoption.  

You could make a sheet of paper for each of the following steps, and then bullet points details under each:

1. Complete home study and training

2. Find agency and pre-pare birthmother letter

3. Get matched with birthmother

4. Get your baby

5. Post-placement home study visits and training

6. Finalization

Answer 9

did u know that many kids are adopted than being born in their births mom

Answer 10

Since when do you come on the Internet to ask other people to do the research necessary for you to write a paper????

Do you're own work, kiddo!

Google "adoption procedures" or search on this board and then R-E-A-D about people's experiences!!

This, like all worthwhile things in life, takes time.