The 4 Keys to a Successful Adoption
Every family begins adoption with the same dream: bringing a child home.
Yet adoption journeys don't all look the same. Some families are matched quickly and successfully complete their adoption. Others wait years, experience disrupted opportunities or face unexpected financial setbacks.
Why?
After helping create more than 13,000 families over the past 40 years, we've seen four factors consistently play an important role in a family's adoption journey.
While no agency can guarantee an outcome, understanding these four areas can help you make a more informed decision about the agency you trust to help build your family.
The Four Keys to Adoption Success
- Marketing That Creates Adoption Opportunities
- Experienced Professionals Who Guide the Process
- Licensing That Protects Your Future
- Costs and Financial Protection
Together, they can have a major impact on how long you wait, the support you receive, the risks you face and your path to becoming parents.
1: Marketing Creates Adoption Opportunities
One of the biggest misconceptions in adoption is that families simply wait their turn.
In reality, opportunities for adoption have to be created.
Approximately 95% of expectant mothers begin researching adoption online, making an agency's ability to reach pregnant women one of the biggest factors in how many adoption opportunities it can create.
But marketing is only part of the equation.
You also need to look at how many families are waiting compared with how many adoptions the agency completes each year. Together, these numbers can tell you much more about your potential wait than an advertised estimate alone.
Learn what really determines adoption wait times and the questions every family should ask.
Read the Complete Guide to Adoption Wait Times
2: Experienced Professionals Guide Successful Adoptions
Every adoption involves much more than paperwork.
Licensed social workers, counselors, legal professionals and adoption specialists help families and expectant mothers navigate emotional, legal and practical decisions throughout the process.
When challenges arise, experienced professionals can spot concerns early, provide support and help work through problems before they threaten the adoption.
That's why it's important to look beyond how long an agency has been around. Ask who will actually be supporting you, how much adoption experience they have and whether there is a full team behind your family.
Learn why the people behind your adoption can make such an important difference.
Why You Need Licensed Professionals
3: Licensing Protects Your Future
Where an adoption agency is licensed matters.
Some professionals advertise nationwide while only being licensed and staffed in a small number of states. With adoption laws continuing to change, that difference is becoming even more important.
Today, approximately 80% of domestic infant adoptions involve families and expectant mothers living in different states, so your agency needs to be prepared to support an adoption wherever the opportunity occurs.
Don't just ask where an agency advertises. Ask where it is actually licensed and equipped to provide adoption services.
Is Your Agency Prepared for the Future?
4: Understand the True Cost and Your Financial Risk
Adoption costs can be confusing because two agencies can provide very different estimates without including the same services, expenses or protections.
Research involving 40 adoption professionals and more than 6,000 completed domestic adoptions found that the vast majority of adoptions cost approximately $48,000–$80,000.
The important question isn't simply which agency gives you the lowest estimate. It's what that estimate includes and what happens to your money if an adoption opportunity doesn't work out.
At many agencies, families can have $10,000–$12,000 at risk on average after an unsuccessful opportunity. Understanding who carries that financial risk can be just as important as understanding the initial cost.
Learn what's behind adoption costs, what may be missing from an estimate and how financial protection works.
What to Know About Adoption Costs
Successful Adoptions Are Built Long Before a Match
Every successful adoption begins long before a family is matched.
It starts with reaching enough pregnant women to create opportunities, having experienced professionals there when difficult situations arise, being licensed and prepared to support the adoption, and understanding the costs and financial risks involved.
These four areas work together to give families a stronger foundation for their adoption journey.
While every family's experience is different, understanding them can help you make a more informed decision about the agency you choose and your path toward bringing your child home.
Ready to Learn More?
Choosing an adoption agency is one of the most important decisions you'll make on your journey to parenthood.
If you'd like to learn more about how American Adoptions approaches these four areas, or talk about your own adoption goals with an adoption specialist, we're here to help.
Schedule your free consultation today and take the next step toward building your family.
Disclaimer
Information available through these links is the sole property of the companies and organizations listed therein. American Adoptions provides this information as a courtesy and is in no way responsible for its content or accuracy.
