How difficult is it to adopt an older child? Will they even allow it if the adoptive parent is 23?

Question

Hi, I have been considering adopting an older child in the US. I am also very open to a sibling group if needed. I have thought about this over the past 4-5 years and how wonderful it would be to adopt an older child. I do own my own home and business. However I do make under $35000 a year which might affect it.

Answer 1

You most definitly can adopt older children!  What a wonderful thing because they need parents more than any other age group.  Our oldest is eight and my partner would have been only 17 when she had her.  We had a foster kids that was even older, but he was mentally 3 years old.  

I say go for it!

In case you want specifics, when we got our first placement, she was 23 and through foster care, we got a 2 month, 15 month, 3 years, 4 years, 6 years, and 9 years.

Answer 2

i think you should be able to aslog as you have a good record and a job like the one you have and i believe you get conpinsated monthly for adopting kind of like child support and its a long process you will be evaluated but you sure can

Answer 3

you "might" be able to adopt. i'm not sure from what i know, some states you have to be as old as 25, but your pay check won't affect weather you can adopt a child or not, as long as you have a room and a bed for the child and are not homeless, and can feed the child then you would be able to adopt. you have to go through some foster care training classes and courses and in my state it 20 hours of training. but i "think" that you would be able to adopt, call a adotion, foster care line and you can ask about that and other questions that you have on foster care. they'll have all the answers.

it's "really" great that you want to adopt. i know that this might seem a "bit" to old, but you can also consider adopting a teen of your gender becuase most teens don't ever get a home. good luck in finding the right child, that's awesome you want to adopt.

Answer 4

Wow someone actually not looking to get a "gerber baby".  Congrats to you wanting to adopt a specail needs child (meaning they are above the age of 5).  Kudo's / good luck / and YES it is possible.

Answer 5

There are state by state rules...generally, it is that you must be so many years older than the oldest child you are adopting....I believe it is 15 yrs older in our state. They are not going to place a 16 year old with you most likely b/c you are too close in age and the child would have a tougher time minding you and seeing you as his mother/caregiver.

That being said...you can apply to adopt any child/children. that doesn't mean they will accept you. They will look at your home, your background, your income, etc, and decide which children/child would best benefit from being in your care. Your income is not a big issue, as long as you can take on the responsibility of another person in the household. Just complete the paperwork and when it asks you what age you would like, put no preference or go with the biggest age bracket you would be willing to accept. I promise, they will decide what is best for your situation. Ultimately, that is their job to determine.

Answer 6

"as long as you have a room and a bed for the child and are not homeless, and can feed the child "

Yikes, is that the only requirement to adopt nowadays?  A room and a bed and some food now and then??  Yowza.

There are lots of foster kids who need homes, I would contact your local DFS and ask.  No matter what anyone says here, they are the ones who will be able to tell you with any certainty.  It's great that you want to do this, but keep in mind that being a parent is hard work, and it's a 24-7 job.  I hope you have some sort of support because it is a HUGE responsibility.