I want to adopt and dont know where to start?

Question

My husband and I have talking a lot about have children. I am not sure that I can have a child so we have come to the conclusion to adopt as many children need good homes and people to love them.

The problem: I dont know where to start. Can someone who has adopted a child (ren) please tell me where to start. I live in Oregon and I dont know if there are websites for me to go to first or if I need to contact an attorny first. Do I even need to get an attorny involved? Please help. Thank you.

Answer 1

If you're interested in adoption for the purpose of giving a family to children who need them, I'd recommend calling your local DHS office and getting started on the foster/adoption process.  It's a relatively simple process, and they'll walk you through it.  There are over 100,000 children in foster care in the US, and that's where the real need is.  Best of all?  It's free.

Answer 2

Foster, Foster care they need alot of couples. CPS OR DPS what ever you call it there. Children are children just because they are in foster care doesn't mean that they aren't ready to love and be love.

Answer 3

Okay, my soap box is that the place to start is to learn the true facts about adoption--not from agencies, but from adoptees and adoptive parents, and even from first moms.  That's really where you start.  If I had understood the trauma that accompanies adoption, I would have been better able to help my two adopted children much sooner.  We don't usually interpret the signs of trauma correctly because we aren't trained to.

Answer 4

If you truely wish to parent through adoption the best place to start is with EDUCATION. Hang around here for a while, read some books, look at web sites, learn, learn, learn!

There are some tremendous people here who will give you rediculously good advice if you take the time to listen. Gaia is awsome and can give you tons of good advice- she is also in your state.

Good luck and I hope you make the choices that are right for you and your future children whether they are biological, adopted, fostered or guardian-ed!  :)

Answer 5

We researched a few different adoption agencies and talked to friends who had used them before making a decision on which one to use, contacted them and started in on the seemingly endless pile of paperwork!

The agency we went with had attorneys who worked with them to take care of the legal aspects, so hiring an attorney on our own wasn't necessary.

Good luck!