Adoption

Each year, thousands of children are adopted throughout the U.S. Although many children are adopted internationally by American families, or via the foster care system, many of these children are adopted domestically as newborns or infants.

According to Adoptive Families magazine, an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 infants are adopted domestically each year (excluding foster and relative adoption). As more pregnant women begin to cosider all of their options, and more couples are choosing to forego costly infertilty treatments, domestic adoption in the U.S. continues to grow each year.

The Adoption Option for Pregnant Women
Gone are the days of secrets and shame. In today's world of domestic adoption, pregnant women are in control of their adoption plan. Not only are they able to personally select an adoptive family for their child, but they also have the opportunity to see their child grow through pictures and letters. Women may also have the opportunity to enter into an open adoption, in which they maintain a relationship with their child and the adoptive family through phone calls, e-mails and even visits. The once popular closed adoptions - in which the birth mother was not given any information regarding the adoptive family or information about her child as they grew up - are now rare as more and more studies have proven that closed adoptions have many negative effects on the child, the birth mother and the adoptive family. Today, many adoptions are semi-open in nature, meaning pictures and letters are shared between the birth mother and the adoptive family through a third party, usually an adoption agency. Open adoptions are also becoming more popular, in which both the birth mother and the adoptive family maintain contact with one another, without the assistance of a third party.

Pregnant and Considering Adoption? Learn how adoption may be the choice for you.

Growing a Family Through Adoption
Just as more pregnant women are choosing to place their child for adoption, more and more couples are choosing to focus on growing their family through adoption, rather than costly and emotionally difficult infertility treatments. Although Hollywood stars have made recent headlines by adopting internationally, the truth is that infant domestic adoption is alive and well in the U.S. Although there are many myths surrounding domestic adoption - such as tales of extremely long waits or exorbitant costs - these beliefs are untrue. At American Adoptions, the average wait for all of our programs combined is 1-18 months. In addition, adoptive families are able to place a cap on their adoption budget to ensure their adoption costs stay within their affordable range.

Want to adopt a child? Learn about our three unique adoption programs.

Growing up Adopted
With the increase in semi-open and open adoptions, children who are adopted no longer grow up wondering about their adoption or their birth family. Adoptive families share their child's adoption story with them as they grow up and celebrate it with them, rather than keep it hidden and secret. Through the exchange of pictures and letters, adopted children are given the opportunity to know their birth parents, rather than wondering where they came from. Sadly, for many generations prior, adoption was often kept secret, leaving adopted children no answers as to who their biological parents were and why they were placed for adoption. In addition, many adoption records were closed and kept from adult adoptees seeking information about their biological parents. Not only did this leave many adult adoptees without the answers they sought, but it also often lead to feelings of resentment or shame about their adoption. Today, adoptive families are taught to celebrate their child's adoption and share with them their adoption story - not as a secret, but as an open dialog throughout their child's lifetime.

Adopted? Learn more about searching for birth parents, access to adoption records.