Starting Your Adoption Journey
Whether your goal is to start a family or expand your family through adoption, having experienced professionals on your side will support you significantly throughout the process. Not only can professionals help you thoroughly understand what to expect along your journey, but they can connect you with resources, support, and community to help nurture loving families and healthy relationships. Indeed, Hope Cottage aims to help children and their families through education, counseling, and adoption services. In today’s blog, your Dallas, TX infant adoption professionals discuss the steps involved when adopting in Texas.
Beginning the Process
The first step in starting your journey is to research the type of adoption that is the right fit for your family. In Texas families can explore options in domestic infant adoption, adoption through the foster care system, or international adoption. Domestic infant adoption is when a birth mother voluntarily relinquishes parental rights near the time of the baby’s birth. Foster to adopt serves children who have been removed from their family of origin due to abuse or neglect, and need temporary and/or permanent homes. International adoption includes traveling to a country outside the US to adopt a waiting child. Questions to answer include, are you planning to adopt an infant or an older child? Is foster to adopt a process that will work for your family? Are you open to a continuing relationship with the child’s birth family after placement? No two experiences are the same, and the best route for you will depend largely on what best fits your family. Going into the process with as much information as possible is crucial for the health, safety, and best interests of the child(ren) involved. The remainder of this article discusses the process of domestic infant adoption.
Understanding Requirements
Each type of adoption and each adoption agency will have basic requirements for prospective adoptive families. Minimally, in the state of Texas, a prospective adoptive parent can be either married or single, and must be at least 21 years of age. Other requirements include completing an application to adopt and a financial assessment, providing references, submitting to criminal background and child abuse checks, and completing a home study.
Choosing a Professional and Scheduling a Home Study
Once you have made a commitment to the process, it is important to do your research to choose an adoption professional or agency. While you may believe all agencies provide the same services, in reality, each one may offer different perspectives and types of support. Fully investigate the amount of pre-adoption training provided, to make sure you are prepared for the logistical and emotional aspects of the adoption process. Hope Cottage, for example, offers a full continuum of services that nurtures healthy relationships essential for families and communities to thrive. Doing the research and determining the best agency or professional for your needs can ultimately make the process smoother for you and your family.
Once you select an agency or professional, a home study is going to be required in any adoption. During this process, a caseworker will visit your home to assess stability in all areas of the home and family. This process consists of interviews in which you are asked about your personal history, lifestyle, childcare plans and experiences, and financial and medical information.
Receiving a Child Placement
Once your home study is approved, most domestic infant adoption agencies and professionals have prospective adoptive families create a profile book. The profile books, which look a lot like short family photo albums, are shown to expectant mothers who are searching for an adoptive family for their child. It is important to be aware that this stage is an unpredictable waiting period and may be one of the most difficult parts of the process. We recommend continuing your day-to-day activities as normal and utilizing this time to learn about the lifelong process of adoption.
Once a birth mother has chosen you to be her child’s adoptive parent, you will be notified by your adoption professional of the birth and potential placement timeline. Once the birth family’s legal processes are completed, you can welcome the infant into your family.
Post-Placement Expectations
In Texas adoptive placements must be supervised for a minimum of six months. During this stage, the child will reside with you while you and your adoption professionals complete five post-placement visits and work with an attorney to finalize the adoption through the court system. And, since most domestic infant adoptions involve open adoption with the infant’s birth family, your adoption professionals should be able to offer support and facilitation of post-placement contact. To learn more about what you can expect along the way, please contact our team.
Learn More About Post-Placement Support
Strong families are essential for strong communities, and our team strives to guide the community in building healthy and long-lasting family relationships. To learn more about the steps involved when looking to start your journey in becoming an adoptive parent, contact Hope Cottage in Dallas, TX by calling (214) 526-8721 today.