What all do you have to go through to adopt a baby?

Question

I am 25 years old, and considering adoption.

I am married, and I live in the U.S.

I was wondering, what all do you have to go through to adopt a baby? How much is the money cost approximatly? What all countries are open to adoption?

I would like to adopt a girl; preferably under 3 years old; but already born. Thanks for any feedback. [:.

Answer 1

I love adoption I have 2 adopted siblings...for us(we also live in the US)it was free, because we were  a foster home, if you have a good clean home they will give you papers and you can say what age and gender you woul dprefer...then you can try with the baby see how it works and sometimed the mom cant get them back so they let you adopt them! Both of the children my family adopted worked out REALLY well!!!

Answer 2

I highly recommend reading this site, it's very informative and will answer a lot of your questions: http://adopting.adoption.com/adopt/getti...

General overview- you will need to complete lots of paperwork and complete a homestudy, to make sure that your background is appropriate for raising a child.  There's also plenty of "hurry up and wait" to go through.  The cost varies- anywhere from a few thousand dollars or less adopting from foster care, or up to $40,000 in an international adoption.

Do your research, take your time, and I wish the best for you and your future child!

<3 Kelsey

Answer 3

Get an attorney.  Get the home study completed.

The attorney will tell you the rest.

Answer 4

Well I was adopted when I was 20 months old. I think it ended up costing around a thousand dollars or less for my parents, but that's just because they had to pay for flights and some legal fees. I was already a US citizen though. It'd cost way more if you want to adopt out of the country.

You do have to go through alot though, it takes time and you have to have clean records too.

Answer 5

You have several options.  You have to do a homestudy regardless of how and where you adopt.  Adopting a child in the US who is already in foster care will cost you nothing.  You can also adopt from other countries or do newborn domestic adoption.  These can range from $10000-$50000.    Contact your local children's service department and go from there...you can also find other adoption agencies in the phone book.  Good luck.

Answer 6

2 much!

Answer 7

You will have to have a homestudy done, most agencies can do that when you are working with them.  My hubby and I had an independant one done so we were not tied to one certain agency.  The homestudy will include background checks, fingerprinting, physicals, questions about previous marriages, other children, child support, your support network, why you want to adopt, among many other things.

After your homestudy is complete is working to find the appropriate birthmother/child for you and your husband.  These days the birthparents basically pick the adoptive families from adoptive profiles (this is something the agency will also help you put together...pictures, a "dear birthmother letter", and a little about yourselves and your family.

We have adopted our daughter as a newborn and the total cost of the adoption was $21000.  She was born in Texas...but that includes travel, lawyer fees, agency fees, birthmother expenses, EVERYTHING.

We used Family to Family Adoptions Inc.  Their website is famtofam.org if you would like to get contact information for them.

As for what contries are open to adoption, I know that the USA, Korea, Guatamala are the big ones.  You are still able to adopt from China, they have just made it much more dificult as of late.

Your cost and experience will differ greatly from country to country.  We live in the upper midwest and adopted from Texas.  

Hope I was of some help to you!

Answer 8

Ours cost about $50,000 (but that's more that typical because of medical expences that weren't covered by her insurance)

thing you have to do is:

Physical

Family History

Social History

FBI background check

Local background check

CPR First Aide classes

Getting to know baby (for 1st timers)

Clearence from "child abuse reporting agency" in most states (new in '07)

Home visits

Post placement visits

Financial history and stability

References will be contacted

Fire and Safety inspection by your local fire inspector

write a Dear birthmother letter

you'll need an attoreny

That's all I can think of rgith now, but the laws change so fast.

Answer 9

You should first educate yourself about the issues specific and unique to adoption and the damage caused by separating mother and child....

Read Primal Wound by Nancy Verrier.

Answer 10

You need an attorney first so they can find legal and legitimate places.

Answer 11

A lot of red tape, and lots of money. Older kids are easier to adopt but more set in their ways too.