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Domestic Adoptions:
There are basically two types of domestic adoption:
1) The first type of adoptions is the State sponsored programs where
older children 3 and up are available for adoption. Both married
couples can adopt, with few age restrictions,
other than younger than 65 years and older than 21 years, with
less than 50 years difference to the child. No more than three
previous divorces are acceptable and parents must not have a major
criminal record although we will review every situation. Applicants
must not have a major life threatening medical illness or severe
mental health diagnoses at the time of the application. Household
income must at least $30,000 or more. At least one of the adoptive
parents must be a U.S. Citizen or have permanent US resident status.
Most State requires you to take a mandatory 30 hour state sponsored
MAPP course (Models of Approved Parenting) for training in parenting
children who may have been exposed to abandonment, neglect or abuse.
Some of these children have been in alcohol or drug exposed or violent
situations, and the state had to take these children into protective
custody. These adoptions are generally funded by the State and the
cost is low. This program is more often chosen by parents who would
like to adopt a child or sibling group without incurring significant
financial costs.
In the State of Florida, most people seem to report that our State
wants them to foster rather than adopt, and that the adoption process
was filled with stressful bureaucratic difficulties and delays. Sadly,
many people have begun the process in Florida, only to never complete
an adoption, or have had children placed in their homes with such
severe problems that it has scared them away from adoption. Often,
while attempting to adopt through a Florida fostering program, parents
become understandably bonded to a particular child, and then are
absolutely heart broken when the child is suddenly removed from their
home due to some legal reason. Florida is mandated to attempt to
rehabilitate the biological parents and always gives preference to any
biological relative over the potential adoptive or foster parents.
This process can be emotionally devastating to the adopting parents
where they loose a child they have grown to love.
In
contrast, our Interstate Adoption program is designed to assist you in
adopting children who need a loving, permanent family from other
states other than Florida. This is an amazing adoption opportunity as
there are about 600,000 children in the US foster system and
approximately 100,000 children are available for adoption at any
time. You can begin to search for your own children at
www.adoptuskids.org but you will need to join our program first in
order to register Hope for Families as your receiving agency. There
are strict rules designed to protect the safety of children that
restrict the release of information to private citizens, and the
various state agencies will only give you the child’s information, and
consider you for adoption if you are working with another local
licensed adoption agency, such as Hope for Families.
Hope for Families has
to complete your adoption home study and then you can sign our
Interstate Adoption Review Contract so that you can begin receiving
detailed information about the children you select within the foster
system in other states outside of Florida. The Interstate Compact
and State where the child lives will require you to have a licensed
agency as your receiving agency so that we can assist you in
receiving, assessing and reviewing the confidential information about
the children you are interested in adopting and coordinate with the
Sending Agency for child placement. You will also need to take the
approved parenting course. We will work with you to contact the
agencies and work with you to find an appropriate referral. Then will
work with the agency to complete your post placements which are
necessary to finalize your adoption.
Our interstate program is the most cost effective and user friendly
method of adoption of an older child or sibling group.
2) The second type of adoptions is a private adoption process where an
adoptive family makes arrangements with a child placing agency or
adoption attorney to facilitate the adoption with a birthmother of a
new born baby. This private adoption allows a parent to adopt a
generally healthy baby with medical and background records before and
after the birth. Birth fathers are rarely involved in the adoption and
therefore the birth father’s medical background is not as available.
Families are often able to visit with the doctor(s) at the hospital
and even meet or talk to the birthmother before the birth. While drug
and alcohol exposure are generally lower in a domestic adoption, 65
percent of all birth mothers have smoked during their pregnancy. The
adoption generally takes between 6-18 months, although good agencies
are generally in the 7-10 month range to adoption. Depending on the
adoption organization selected, waiting times may vary more than
international adoptions, but 70% of the families we recommend to our
domestic program through our sister agency have their baby within 7
months!
The major risk inherent within domestic adoptions is that birth
mothers are legally allowed to change their mind until they sign the
relinquishment paperwork. Each state varies on the time frames a birth
mother can sign her consent to adopt, however most states allow the
birth mother to sign 48-72 hours after the baby is born. From that
point, most states do not allow the birth mother to legally change her
mind and regain custody of the child. Birth mothers do change their
minds before signing the legal paperwork and this can create emotional
trauma for everyone, but a good agency such as our recommended program
has the highest completion ratio in adoptions which higher than 90%
due to their careful screening and support process. Other agencies we
have encountered and do not recommend, have a 25% or higher failure
rate. In the event of a birth mother terminating the adoption, in our
domestic adoption program continues to work with the adopting parents
with no extra agencies costs until an adoption is finalized without a
time restriction. Birth mothers select the adoptive family so
families must provide photos and general non-identifying
information so that the adopting family is protected from a later
intrusion of the birth mother.
Domestic adoptions do have their downfalls because the process can be
disappointing. Most families will talk with birth mothers that at some
point during their pregnancy or immediately after birth, and if that
birth mother then decides against the adoption it can be very
distressing. You could be working with the birth mother for two days
or three months and develop an emotional bond and expectations.
Remember, the birth mother retains full legal rights to choose whether
she will keep her child up to the time she signs her consent,
regardless of her promises to you or the agency. Obviously, the
disappointment grows the longer you have worked with a birth mother
and the stronger the emotional attachment to the birth mother or new
born child. However, the often repeated myth that a domestic child
can be taken out of your arms at any time is absolutely unfounded. In
most states, the legal documents a birth mother signs, which typically
occurs 48-72 hours after the baby is born, are irrevocable
once signed. In simple terms, in most states, once she
signs the paperwork she cannot simply change her mind. However, she
can go through a court process and try to prove she was forced into
the decision by threats or bribes, but in over 75,000 adoptions in the
last 10 years, we know of no cases where the birth mother prevailed as
the court favors the permanent placement. There will be a
professional social worker, court notary and attorney present at the
time of the birth mother’s signature to ensure her full rights to
decide, and yet prevent a latter retraction based on spurious
allegations to fully protect the adopting families.
A more common risk concerns birth fathers. In about one out of every
100 adoptions a birth father will attempt to assert his parental
rights. The birth father issues are often known early in the adoption
process so families can decide if they wish to proceed with such a
risk. However, there are rare cases were the birth father's feelings
about adoption are unknown until after the baby is placed with the
adoptive family. Even when a birth father is against the adoption, few
will ever hire an attorney in efforts to stop the adoption and they
seldom prevail in the ensuing legal arbitration. In over 75,000
adoptions there are only a few stated cases whereby a birth father has
actually won custody of his child after the adoption is finalized.
Florida is one of the best states to finalize an adoption, as, other
than husbands, the fathers are legally obliged to both support the
birth mother during pregnancy and make application to the punitive
father’s registry to have a parental right claim. Florida has
completely rewritten adoptive legislation to institute a legal process
that places the responsibility on the birth father at the time of the
birth to prevent a destructive disruption later. It is true that most
biological fathers do not want the entire responsibility of raising a
child alone and supporting the child financially.
In a domestic adoption, generally both spouses will have to travel to
whichever state the child is born in, and usually meet the birth
mother, sometimes her family, and also the new baby. Often the
adopting families will have to stay 3-10 days in the state for the
initial court processes and state paperwork that must be filed, and to
gain the Interstate Compact approval, so that you can bring your child
back home with you. Most states will require multiple post placement
assessments before the legal finalization of your adoption. In the
State of Florida, 3 post placements are required, although more may be
necessary if the baby’s state of origin requires more.
Hope for Families has a wonderful private adoption program for new
born babies. Adopting a baby is very achievable and we will assist
you to make your dream a reality.
Just press "Adopt a Baby in US" to begin your domestic adoption
journey.
International Adoptions:
Sadly, International programs are very difficult at this time and the
implementation of the Hague Convention has made things much more
difficult and costly. Many countries have closed or are experienced 3
year delays in providing referrals. Generally adoptable children are
older and are living in orphanages without proper resources or care.
Medical records are meager for international adoption as there is
rarely substantial information on the birth parents. Alcoholism and
drug exposure is more likely in some countries and reactive attachment
and post traumatic stress disorders are common. Children may have
experienced neglect and abuse from their parents, and emotional
detachment issues are also common as orphanages may not have the staff
to care for the children. Clinical counselors say that the younger
the child is, the fewer emotional problems they may have, but that is
not always possible in international adoption.
International adoption travel can be very stressful as you will
quickly learn that you are not in control. The country you are
adopting from is autonomous from the US legal system and can
arbitrarily decide to do anything, although adoption does benefit
their economy and reputation. Certain countries have suddenly shut
down all adoptions in their country which has meant that any adoptions
in the process are stopped.
Several agencies create interest in adoption by having pictures of
children apparently available for adoption on their websites. My
caution is never to look at these pictures on the internet as it
creates commitment to adopt a particular child but the agency can not
guarantee that the child will be available. Do not allow yourself to
become emotionally attached as it is not uncommon for the orphanage to
promise this child to several agencies and it is only the country and
their court that decides who will adopt this child. The orphanage’s
goal is to place the children as soon as possible, which makes the
chances of you actually adopting the viewed “child of your dreams”
less than favorable. Adoptive families can be so emotionally drawn by
pictures or videotapes of waiting children, that they dispose of logic
and allow their hearts to make imprudent decisions which may lead to
great disappointment. Be extremely wary of any agency that displays
any picture of any child for adoption as federal regulations expressly
forbid the posting of any pictures for adoption referrals as the
referral can only be made while in country at the orphanage in the
presence of the child.
Generally in most international adoption both spouses will have to
travel to whichever country the child is located and stay anywhere
from 2 weeks to 2 months but there are some exceptions to this rule.
The length of stay for adopting parents in the country of their child
will greatly vary depending on the country chosen. In some countries,
families are required to travel twice or have one longer visit that is
impossible for some occupations. It should be noted that adopting
single parents and in the case of a married couple, at least one
parent must be a U.S. citizen in order to adopt internationally and
obtain a visa to bring the child back into the U.S. as an immediate
relative.
The children have medical examinations by the orphanage’s doctor but
these examines are generally not up to American levels of
professionalism. Some children adopted overseas have undiagnosed
medical problems such as exhibiting symptoms of attachment disorder
because some level of sensory and nutritional deprivation while in the
orphanage due to the momentary access to their mother. In the worse
case scenario, attachment disorder symptoms have included destruction
to self or others, learning problems, fire setting and cruelty to
siblings, animals and others. Certain older children who have been
abused have exhibited poor or underdeveloped conscience, lying and
fascination with weapons, and even violence. CNN reported about the
worst orphanages in Eastern Europe, "These institutions are both
contaminated in the sense of health problems and sterile in the sense
of emotional attachment." There are other high risk factors that
affect a developing brain, including malnourishment being one of the
most important, but along with nutritional deprivation, social
deprivation, isolation, and other types of hazards that can affect
brain chemistry and development of proper brain cells and brain
function.
At this time, due to these many negative factors, it is becoming
more difficult to give a positive recommendation for International
Adoption. However, Hope for Families will still assist you with the
home study and adoption education if you believe that this is the
decision for your family.
Comparison of Costs between Domestic and International
Adoptions:
When you add the travel costs to the
international adoption: the cost is generally in the $35,000.
Domestic adoption of a newborn baby is often $10,000 less than the
cost of an international adoption! Our Hope for Families Interstate
Referral Program only cost $6,000 which is the most cost effective
adoption available!
Who should help us with our adoption?
In the U.S., those hoping to adopt have two basic options, when
adopting from another country:
Agency Adoptions
- through licensed private agencies who are
licensed in the specific country (the only venue to
adopt in Kazakhstan).
Independent Adoptions
- using unlicensed, unregulated adoption
facilitators (allowed in some foreign countries but not in
Kazakhstan, and these so called facilitators are discouraged by our
US State Department and under investigation in some States);
- doing the work yourself (permitted for some
international adoptions but not in Kazakhstan) with the aid of
in-country assistance.
For international adoptions, your state laws, laws and regulations
of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS, formerly INS),
the U.S. State Department, and the laws of the
specific country will apply.
In weighing your options, you should evaluate your ability to tolerate
risk. Of the options outlined above:
- agency adoptions provide the
greatest assurance of monitoring and oversight since agencies are
required to adhere to licensing and procedural standards;
- independent adoptions put the
burden of the work on your shoulders and it most likely will not
work due to legal complications and restrictions;
- adoptive placements by facilitators
offer the least amount of supervision and oversight with no
oversight mechanisms in place.
We are here to assist you in making your decisions about
adoption:
In addition to factors above, other considerations in selecting the
type of adoption you pursue can include:
- costs
- country restrictions and travel requirements
- child health, age, gender, race etc
- your age, marital status, and others.
Above all else…prayer about it and allow the Lord to direct you and
give you wisdom!
Make a wise and informed decision and remember….children are always
worth any sacrifice or trouble! As darling wife, Lynn says: “If
God leads you to it, He will get you through it…Trust God to give you
wisdom to make this decision!”
It is the mission of HOPE FOR FAMILIES
ADOPTIONS to fully inform you so that you can make the best adoption
choices for your vision of family and life circumstances. After
considering the previous information, please request information or
ask us specific adoption questions by clicking on the link below so we
can help you: |
