Your Adoption Background Check Process

A critical step that all hopeful adoptive families will take in the adoption process is passing the adoption background check. Similar to screening birth parents, this procedure is to ensure a safe adoption and environment for your future child.

Discover below what your background check for adoption will include and how American Adoptions can guide you through each step of the adoption process.

To get more free information now about the adoption background check, you can call 1-800-ADOPTION or fill out our online contact form today.

What Checks are Done for Adoption?

In the early stages of your adoption journey, the agency you work with will screen and evaluate you. This includes aspects like your:

• Home environment

• Relationship with your significant other

• Relationship with your family

• Criminal history (if applicable)

• Medical records

A critical part of an adoption background check is the in-home visit from your adoption social worker. This is known as the home study.

The Adoption Home Study

A home study is one of the most in-depth components of the adoption background check process. It includes a report on the physical conditions of the home, which ensures its safety for a child.

The social worker also interviews and questions the hopeful adoptive family and other household members to make sure they’re fit to raise a child. A home study requires you to:

• Have a licensed social worker visit your home

• Consent to background checks

• Agree to the interviews conducted with each family member

• Undergo a psychological evaluation

• And more

Prospective birth parents working with American Adoptions find it helpful to know that one of the first steps in a home study requires adoptive parents to gather some essential documents. These include:

• Birth certificates

• Proof of income and employment

• Proof of insurance

• Medical records

• And more

Also, the social worker will examine other “childproof” aspects of the home, such as:

• Properly locked windows and doors

• Covered electrical outlets

• Functioning smoke and carbon monoxide detectors

• Gated stairs and secure rails

• And more

This is just a brief look at some of the features of the home study background check for adoption. Generally speaking, the property must be safe for a child to live in, but the conditions do not have to be perfect. So, don’t stress about making your living space spot-free. It should look like someone’s living there, after all!

Your Commitment to Adoption

Hopeful adoptive parents’ commitment to adoption is taken very seriously.

Adoption agencies and prospective birth parents do not want to be a part of an adoption where the child is not a priority.

That’s why your full commitment to the adoption is vital. Your agency will have many in-depth conversations with you so they know how serious you are about becoming an adoptive parent.

Adoptive Family Profiles

Once you’ve gone through the screening process, an adoption professional will help you create an adoption profile.

The adoption profile is what your adoption professional will show to prospective birth parents. American Adoptions has many programs and services to help hopeful adoptive families with this step.

One of our more unique services is the adoptive family video profiles. These video profiles allow prospective birth parents to get a visual glimpse into your life and see the environment their child could live in. The video profiles include interviews with you, close friends or family members to give more insight into your lifestyle.

Many birth parents who have been a part of our community find that video profiles are highly useful when they’re choosing a hopeful adoptive family.

Passing the Adoption Background Check

By the time an expectant mother reviews families looking to adopt, they will know that you have gone through the necessary adoption background checks.

Although there are many levels to an adoption background check, commitment to the adoption process will go a long way.

Working with an experienced, licensed adoption agency can make this process as smooth as possible.

For over 30 years, American Adoptions has helped create hundreds of families and continues to work with adoptive families, birth parents and children.

Talk to an Adoption Specialist Today

At American Adoptions, our specialists have decades of experience working with families from all across the country. Some have even been in your shoes, going through the adoption process themselves as hopeful parents, birth mothers or adoptees. They can give you specific guidance about your state’s home study and adoption background check. 

If you have more questions about the background check for adoption, then we are here to answer them for you. You can get more free information now when you fill out our online contact form or call 1-800-ADOPTION today.

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