The Process of Adoption
The process of adoption is mostly a long and wearisome one. We are hoping this will explain to you what to expect so you are better prepared to cope with the process.
Agency:
Most people that are looking to adopt a child will go through an agency. You can find hundreds or thousands out there to choose from. Choosing a good agency is one of the most important steps to make. The best thing is to choose one that is close to your home because they will need to make home visit and you will need to make a couple of visits to their office.
When choosing the agency that what you will use, you will need to look at their background; in other word do some homework before you commit to them. Choosing a long standing agency is preferable; you can look on the Internet to find out their history and to look for comments from former adopters. Talk to people about their experience with them. The most importing thing is to make sure the agency is legal.
Attorney:
It is important to understand that all adoptions are legal agreements, and it is important to make sure that all the legal steps are followed. Plus the adoption laws are different from place to place. But they are all made to protect the child, the birth and adoptive parents. It is important to have a lawyer over see the adoption to make sure that you are going through all the right steps. There are different kinds of adoptions too. You have the open adoption, which means that all names and information about the birth and adoptive parents are public. This is to the childs advantage, in case he or she someday wants to meet their parents or to learn more about where they come from. A closed adoption is completely different, meaning that all information about the parties are legally sealed and can not be seen by either party.
Process of application:
Your first step is to fill out the initial application from an adoption agency. This gives the agency the signal to begin the process; the agency will then assign you an agent. First thing that will be done is someone from the agency will study your home. This will let them see if you are living in a safe environment for a child. Plus they will do a background check on both prospective parents; this will include employment history, criminal record and medical check-up.
One of the things that the agency needs to do is to ask questions to establish what type of child you want to adopt. Depending on the families, they may want to adopt only infants, while others would prefer older kids, some will want to go over seas and some might want to adopt special need children. Once this is determined, the process will begin. You need to remember this may take a year.
The waiting game:
Adopting can be a very long process. Depending on the type of child you are looking for, it can take years sometimes. It is normal that some families can feel discouraged by the wait. The longing for a child and the feeling of wasting time can take over. But you need to stay positive, instead of feeling discouraged. It is important that you do not stop time, life goes on. In the mean time, try to make sure that all the family is prepared to welcome a new child.
