If you plan on adopting or have adopted, will you or have you adopted an older child rather than an infant?

Question

Just out of curiousity. I don't have a preference, but I seem to be seeing a lot of people adopting infants mostly.

Answer 1

We're hoping to adopt a child that is younger than my 3 year old son or similar age. We are wishing this as we don't want to displace him as the oldest child.

Answer 2

We're adopting older kids through foster care.

Answer 3

We adopted siblings she was 5-years-old and he was 1-year-old....

We orignally intended to adopt siblings with both children being over the age of 4 years old....

Answer 4

we were planning on adopting age 7 or younger.  but were open to older, sibling groups and race had no issue with hubby and i.  who we adopted was a newborn little girl.  that's just the situation that found us and how it ended up.  

we were looking more for the type of adoption.  we wanted full openess and physical contact with the bio family. it just happened that the mother was pregnant and we adopted an infant to fit the type of situation we were looking for.  i think it's been and hopefully will continue to be a good experience for our daughter, she will have a big family as she grows.  they will be her bio and adopted family.  but hopefully to her we will all just be her family.

Answer 5

I will adopt an enfant

Answer 6

We adopted a toddler, a four year old and a six year old.

Answer 7

My husband and I would like to be foster parents in the future, in 10 or so years.  We would prefer older kids- I don't know, say 10 and older.  But when we look into it, who knows, perhaps we'd be more open to any age.

I think when dealing with foster care, people are looking to foster/foster adopt children that are not infants.  Infants are mostly the 'hot commodity' in private agency adoptions.

Answer 8

hmm.. well if i were to adopt id probably adopt a newborn. That way, he/she gets used to you, and thinks you are their birth mother. If you adopt older kids, it may be akward to them, or you.

Answer 9

My wife and I have adopted 2 sibling groups of three each.  The youngest of either group when they came into our home was 5. They are now 7, 8 9, 11, 11, 12. There is never a dull moment around our house!

Answer 10

We adopted through foster care. We wanted the children to be younger than our child so she would be the oldest. We thought the child would be six or seven.  

We ended up with a sibling group of three. They are now 1, 2, & 3!

When they came home they were 7 weeks, 1 1/2, and just born. I never thought I would parent and infant.

We are so blessed with our babies.

Answer 11

we are in the process of adopting a 6 1/2 year old out of foster care

Answer 12

i really wanna adopt and older child. i have always wanted to adopt, but when i was younger i always thought adopting a baby would would nice. but then as i got older i realized that  their are alot of older children that need loving family's.

the other day i was watching the news and this little boy ( he was 7 ) was on there talking about how he feels like only baby's get adopted and the new person asked him  what is something he wants the most in this world and he said a real mommy and daddy, a brother and sister and a dog and a cat.....

i cried, i sat at my kitchen table a cried my fiance looked at me a laughed because i crying over that. but then i explained to him that, i felt bad because that boy only wants a family and everyone only wants baby's, i wanted to phone and adopt him right then.

so now as soon as i buy a house i am adopting an older child ....maybe even too,

Answer 13

I would have no problem adopting an older child, if I adopted in the next 10 to 12 years I’d be willing to take a child up to 7 or 8 years old. I wouldn’t be against adopting an infant but if I did the baby would a. already be surrendered, b. from FC or C. a part of a sibling group.

wow bless your family 4littlemonkeys for taking in 3 kids all under 2 years at the time.

Answer 14

I adopted an 8 and 3 year old.  They are brother and sister.  Their parent vol. termed.  They were place in my care through kinship/fostercare.  I adopted because I love them very much and couldn't imagine them seperated and living with strangers. The statistics show that the girl would have been adopted quicker and the chance was high for my son to never be adopted and in and out of foster homes until he turned 18.

That seems so horrible and inhumain.  

I couldn't imagine my life without them.

Answer 15

My parents adopted my two brothers one at the age of 18 ( my big brother whom they started the paperwork when he was 17, so at graduation he had a surprise, & parents fostered him for a good while he was in HS) and my little brother at 12. My parents tell people all the time, that it doesn't matter the age, when you fall in love with a child that's all that matters. They love having my brothers at the ages that they adopted them at, and they always say they wouldn't change a thing on their ages, and it really is your heart that chooses. That's all I can say =)

Answer 16

My husband and I have adopted and we adopted an infant.

Our son came home with us from the hospital he was born in. I agree with Scott, there is something special about the process of infancy and childhood that is important to some people.  Whether or not that will affect them wanting to search for their biological family or not I don't think can be determined by that. We're leaving that choice up to our son. If he wants to we'll help in anyway we can to support him, but if he doesn't want to, then we're not going to force him to do so just because he was adopted. We'd support his choice on that when the time comes regardless of which way he decides.

Answer 17

I adopted my son when he was a baby.  If I choose to adopt again, my feeling is that I'd adopt a child who will be younger than my first son at the time of the second child's adoption.

Answer 18

we have thought about it and if we ever did, we would get an infant.  I think it is very important to having that bonding period that you would miss if you were to adopt an older child, especially a teenager.  Plus with an infant, you have a much less chance of the akwardness of the child wanting to meet their parents.