Adoption Options: Agency, Attorney, Facilitator or Doing it on Your Own?
American AdoptionsWhen it comes to choosing an adoption professional, not only are there thousands to choose from, but you must also decide what kind of adoption professional you wish to work with – including adoption agencies, attorneys or facilitators – or if you wish to facilitate the adoption on your own.
Adoption Agencies
Adoption agencies are found across the United States and offer a wide range of services. Adoption agencies are licensed by the state to provide services to birth parents and adoptive families. Agencies typically have social workers on staff that counsel birth parents and waiting families and also may offer home study services. An adoption agency will guide a waiting family through the adoption process, from the first step of acquiring the necessary paperwork, to matching a family with a birth mother and the eventual placement of the baby and the finalization of the adoption.
Agencies also range in type and size. Large, national agencies, such as American Adoptions, provide adoption services across the nation, while small or mid-size agencies may only provide services to specific states or regions. In addition to national and local agencies, there also are several religious-based adoption agencies. Each agency will have its own guidelines and restrictions for adoptive families in terms of the clients they will serve. Some agencies are open to all potential adoptive families, while others may place restrictions on age, marital status or sexual orientation.
State agencies offer adoption services to families wishing to adopt a child in the state foster-care system. State adoptions are typically of older children, which can range in age from very young to teenagers.
Adoption Attorneys
Attorneys also offer adoption services. Just as adoption agencies vary, so do adoption attorneys. Some adoption attorneys will aide the family finding a pregnant woman wishing to place her child for adoption, while others require the family to advertise and find a potential birth mother on their own. The attorney then handles all of the necessary legal work to finalize the adoption. Attorneys typically do not have social workers to counsel the birth parents, nor the adoptive family during the process. They also do not typically offer home study services.
Facilitators
Adoption facilitators are unlicensed individuals who work to connect pregnant women considering adoption with potential adoptive families for a fee. It is important to note that facilitators are illegal in many states. Facilitators typically do not offer counseling services and families will be required to hire a lawyer in addition to facilitate the necessary legal documents for the adoption process.
Finding a birth mother on your own
In today’s day and age of the World Wide Web, some families have chosen to facilitate their own adoption by advertising and subsequently finding a potential birth mother on their own. Families are responsible for overseeing all aspects of the adoption, from the completion of the home study, finding a birth mother and ensuring all of the necessary legal paperwork is filed to finalize the adoption. While some families prefer this “hands on” approach, families should also be aware that adoption laws vary state-by-state and often county-by-county. As such, families should be careful to fully research the adoption process and requirements for their locale prior to beginning the adoption process. Families should also take precautions as to not become victims of an adoption fraud, which can occur when a woman who is not really pregnant takes money under the assumption that she will place her “unborn child” for adoption, or is pregnant but promises the child to several families.
