How Does Adoption Work?
How Does Adoption Work?
Adoption provides millions of families the opportunity to bring a child into their home. Whether motivated by infertility or a desire to help, individuals who adopt give needy children the chance to become part of a loving family. But how exactly does the process work? In simplified terms, adoption is a legal proceeding that occurs when the child's birth parents transfer their parental rights to adoptive parents. Generally, once the birth parents have signed a legal agreement to terminate their parental rights, the adopted child will be placed into the home of his adoptive parents for about six months. After this, a judge will finalize the adoption and award the adoptive parental legal right over the child. As a result, the adoptive parents have the same legal rights as any other biological parent. Likewise, the adoptive child becomes entitled to all the privileges that his or her adoptive parents' biological child would receive.
International Vs. Domestic Adoptions
When deciding to adopt a child, the first consideration that must be made is whether you prefer an international or domestic adoption. If choosing to adopt internationally, you will need to decide on a country and research their specific laws. Generally, most countries require prospective parents to be between 25 to 45 years of age. Although some countries allow single parents to adopt, many others prefer married couples - again, you'll want to check with your preferred country for exact details. The cost for international adoption ranges from 20,000 to 40,000 dollars and it typically takes about two years to complete. Domestic adoption, on the other hand, has no age requirements and costs between 15,000 and 25,000 dollars. Most American agencies prefer married couples, however, there are exceptions. When adopting domestically, most of the child's medical and social history will be provided to the parents and in most cases, the adoptive parents will actually meet with the birth mother at least once. Domestic adoptions typically take about two years as well.
Agency Adoptions
Most states require the use of an adoption agency. In agency adoptions, the adoptive family meets with an assigned social worker who works with them to perform a home study. During a home study, the social worker reviews the family's medical, financial and social history. The social worker also checks references, family relationships and views where the child will eat, sleep and play. Once the home study is complete, the social worker makes a recommendation as to whether or not the family should be eligible to adopt. If approved by the social worker, the family is matched with a child. Depending upon the agency, this is done in one of two ways: either the social worker matches the child with the family or the birth mother makes the selection. The adoptive family then works with the agency, an attorney and in some cases, the birth mother, to create the terms of the adoption (the birth mother decides what type of contact she wants to have with the family). Once these details are in place, the child will be placed in the adoptive parents' home. If not yet born, the child will be given to the adoptive parents at the time of his birth. It is important to know, however, that the birth mother can change her mind at any point prior to the baby's birth - so legally speaking, she cannot sign away her parental rights until the child is born.
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