As an adoptive parent, I highly recommend adoption, but I do not recommend fostering or adopting on a whim or as an act to fulfill some Christian or civic duty. Fostering can be a very long term commitment and adoption is for life. I have a biological child, and I have an adopted child. I can safely say, "You will love both just as if they were both flesh of your flesh." But you will face many challenges, so be committed and work on growing some thick skin.
Off the soap box and away from sentiments, adoption is a simple word for a complex process. There are several types of adoption: private, agency, foster to adopt, domestic and international.
For whatever reason you have for deciding to adopt, once you have made the decision, you will need to evaluate your financial and emotional resources. You will need a support network as you go through this process. The money part of adoption disgusts me and infuriates me, but I don't have an alternative solution. There are a lot of people involved in adoption and somehow everybody needs some compensation for their skill and time and moneys need to be made available to care for your adopted child and children still waiting adoption.
So first things first,
- Private adoption is a direct adoption between a biological parent and a adoptive parent. Most of the time these adoptions are between family and friends. A biological parent has died or suffered some extreme trauma and the child is placed with family or a very dear friend.
- Agency adoption is the utilization of an agency to facilitate placement of a child and finalization which is legally binding the child to the adoptive parent(s). Agencies offer a number of adoptive programs including Private and "Foster to Adopt".
- Foster to Adopt can be accomplished working directly with the State (I don't recommend it. An agency can really help you traverse the legal swells of paper and training and yadda yadda yadda.) Foster to Adopt is just what it sounds like: fostering a child until they are available for adoption and then adopting them. If you have limited resources, this is a great option. As a certified Foster family, you will receive compensation from the State monthly to help pay for the child's food, clothes and other care needs. You won't get rich this way, so don't do it for the money, but if you want to adopt and cannot afford the $15,000 plus dollars private and international adoptions can cost, this is a great option.
- Domestic Adoption is a child born within your own country. They could be in your own home town or from another town or from another state. If you cross State lines to adopt a child, you will need to consult adoption procedures in both states.
- International Adoption is an adoption of a child from another country. This can be a very pricey, but very rewarding and exciting adoption. When planning your expenses, you will need to evaluate the agency costs, travel costs, foreign country fees for adoption and legal fees to finalize the adoption within the United States. There are too many different rules and regulations to say what you will face. Each country has their own rules for how old a child has to be to be available for adoption or how long you must be in the country for "culture" training and legal processes.
You have decided to adopt and you have decided on the type of adoption that best fits you. Here are some resources to get the ball rolling:
- Favorite Site: Shaohannah’s Hope. In addition to great information about adoption that is easy to read and easy to find, they also offer financial advice. http://members.shaohannahshope.org/site/PageServer
- http://www.adoption.com/ - Adoption in Texas
- http://www.adoptation.org/ - Adoption in Houston, Texas
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