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Once your home study is completed, you are ready to begin the placement process, the time when a specific child is identified for your family. Depending on the type of adoption you are pursuing, this process and the potential time involved in waiting for your child vary greatly.
(1) If you are pursuing an independent adoption, an attorney or facilitator may help you identify expectant parents or you may locate them on your own if allowed by State law.
(2) If you are using a licensed private agency to pursue a domestic infant adoption, the expectant parents may select your family from among several prospective adoptive families.
(3) In the case of foster care adoption or intercountry adoption of older children, you may review information about a number of children who are waiting for families. You will often have the opportunity for pre-placement visits, to get to know a child before he or she moves into your home in foster care adoption. Also, many foster parents in the United States adopt the foster children in their homes if the children become available for adoption.
(4) If you are adopting an infant internationally you may receive a referral during this time.
How Will the Placement Process Vary?
How you choose to adopt will impact how and when a child is placed in your home. The following information gives a brief overview of how placement may proceed depending on the type of adoption you choose.
Intercountry Adoption
The placement process for intercountry adoption varies depending on the agency you choose and the child's country of origin, but it is typically somewhat predictable. As a child becomes available for adoption, he or she is matched with prospective parents who can meet that child's needs. Families often have the opportunity to review a child's information prior to accepting a placement. Some pediatricians specialize in helping parents evaluate that information.
Often, families need to travel to the child's country of origin to pick up their child. Some countries require more than one trip. The State Department Web site provides the most comprehensive information regarding intercountry adoption, including the most common countries of origin. Necessary forms and frequently asked questions regarding intercountry adoption can be accessed through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Foster Care Adoption
There are many children in foster care waiting for adoptive families. Check with your local Department of Social Services to learn about children who need homes in your area. Adoption exchanges provide photolistings with pictures and brief descriptions of children in the foster care system across the state or region. Once a match has been made between a family and child, and you have reviewed and feel comfortable accepting the child's social and background information, you and the child begin visiting at the direction of the involved adoption professionals. Pre-placement visits vary depending on the situation and the age of the child. After the successful completion of these visits, the child is placed for adoption and comes to live with your family.
The AdoptUSKids Web site provides a national online photolisting of children in foster care waiting for families. Also refer to Clear-Point Law's Directory of State Child Welfare Agency Websites.
Domestic Infant Adoption (Licensed Private Agency)
Adoptive parents working with private agencies often have little control over the process of identifying a child. This process varies greatly depending on the agency. Some agencies are faith-based and give preference to families from a particular religious background. Many agencies allow birth parents to choose a prospective adoptive family for their child based on profiles or books that families create to share information about themselves. As a result, the wait for your child may be unpredictable and, in some cases, quite long.
Independent Adoption
Families adopting independently identify the birth parents without an agency's help. Each family's situation is different; it is impossible to predict the length of time you may wait for a child to be placed. Some adoptive parents and expectant mothers have found each other and made a plan within a week, other adoptive parents search for 1 to 2 years. Infants are usually placed with the adoptive parents directly from the hospital after birth.