How to Find Adoptive Parents for Your Baby

You can find prospective adoptive parents for your baby by working with a licensed adoption agency. An agency allows you to review waiting families based on what matters most to you, from their location and values to their parenting philosophy, before deciding whether any family is the right fit.

You do not have to settle or leave this decision up to someone else. American Adoptions gives you access to diverse, carefully screened families across the country while keeping every choice in your hands. You decide who adopts your baby, what type of adoption you want and how involved you wish to be.

How to Find Adoptive Parents for Your Baby

Finding an adoptive family begins with identifying the kind of life you envision for your child. When you work with an adoption specialist, you guide the search. Your specialist listens to your priorities, shares profiles of families who match your criteria and helps you coordinate contact when you find a family you like.

Step 1: Talk With an Adoption Specialist

Your first step is to have a confidential conversation with an adoption specialist. You can ask questions, talk through your situation and begin discussing what you would want from an adoption plan and an adoptive family.

Getting information does not commit you to adoption. Your specialist can explain your options and answer your questions so you can decide whether adoption feels right for you and your baby.

Step 2: Create Your Adoption Plan

Your adoption specialist will help you create a plan based on what you want for yourself, your baby and your relationship with the adoptive family. You remain in control of the decisions that shape your experience. Your adoption plan can include:

• Adoptive Family Preferences: What you are looking for in prospective adoptive parents and the kind of life you envision for your child.
• Openness: How much contact you would like with the adoptive family and your child before and after placement.
• Communication: How you prefer to communicate with the family, including phone calls, texts, video calls or in-person visits.
• Hospital Plan: Who you want with you at the hospital, how much time you want with your baby and how involved you want the adoptive family to be.

Step 3: Review Waiting Adoptive Families

Once you define what you want in a family, your specialist will provide adoptive family profiles that match your preferences. These profiles include photo albums, letters and video profiles that show who each couple or individual is.

Profiles allow you to see where prospective parents live, learn about their daily routines and understand why they want to adopt. You can take as much time as you need to review these profiles until you find a family that feels right.

Step 4: Get to Know the Family You Choose

After you find a family you are interested in, your specialist can arrange an introductory phone call. This gives you the chance to speak directly with the prospective parents, ask questions and get a better sense of whether you feel comfortable with them.

These conversations can help you evaluate whether your personalities, expectations and hopes for the adoption align. Your specialist can also support early conversations as you get to know the family and decide whether they are the right fit for you.

Step 5: Continue Receiving Support Throughout Your Pregnancy

Your adoption specialist will continue supporting you throughout your pregnancy, helping you access counseling, coordinate medical and legal services and receive allowable financial assistance based on your circumstances and state law.

Receiving this support does not mean you have to continue with adoption. You can change your mind about adoption and still receive the care and guidance you need as you decide what is right for you and your baby.

How to Choose an Adoptive Family

At American Adoptions, waiting families create print and video profiles that introduce you to their lives, relationships, interests, values and hopes for adoption. You can read about what matters to them and use their videos to hear directly from prospective parents and see more of their home, family and everyday life.

As you review profiles, consider which qualities matter most to you and which families you would like to get to know better:

• Family and Relationships: Consider family structure, siblings, extended family relationships and the people who would be part of your child’s life.
• Home and Lifestyle: Think about where the family lives, how they spend their time and the hobbies, activities and traditions they enjoy together.
• Culture and Values: Look for religious beliefs, cultural traditions or personal values that you hope will be part of your child’s upbringing.
• Parenting and Education: Consider how prospective parents describe their approach to parenting, education, discipline and supporting their child’s interests.
• Hopes for Adoption: Pay attention to how they talk about adoption, their relationship with you and the role they hope you can have in your child’s life.
• You do not have to make your decision based on a profile alone. You can identify families you are interested in and get to know them better before deciding who you want to choose.

How Do You Know Whether an Adoptive Family Is Right for You?

Choosing an adoptive family goes beyond the details you see in a profile. As you get to know prospective parents, consider how comfortable you feel communicating with them and whether their values and expectations align with yours.

Pay attention to whether they listen to you, respect your preferences and are open about the relationship they hope to have with you after placement. The right fit may be a family you can communicate openly with and picture building the kind of ongoing relationship you want.

What If My Baby Has Already Been Born?

You can still explore adoption and prospective adoptive families if your baby has already been born or you are currently at the hospital. At American Adoptions, we work with women considering adoption after delivery and can help you understand what options are available in your situation.

An adoption specialist can answer time-sensitive questions, show you profiles of carefully screened waiting families and help you create an adoption plan based on what you want. You still choose the adoptive family and decide whether adoption is the right path for you and your baby.

What Questions Should You Ask Prospective Adoptive Parents?

Talking with prospective adoptive parents gives you a chance to learn more about how they plan to raise your child and the kind of relationship they hope to build with you. Ask about the things that matter most to you, including:

• What values are most important in your family?
• How would you describe your approach to parenting and discipline?
• What are your plans for childcare and education?
• What role do grandparents and extended family members have in your lives?
• Are there cultural or religious traditions you plan to share with your child?
• How do you plan to talk with your child about their adoption story as they grow up?
• What kind of relationship do you hope to have with me after the adoption?
• How would you like to stay in touch through calls, texts, photos, visits or other forms of communication?

You can also ask about their everyday lives, interests and anything else that would help you decide whether you feel comfortable moving forward with them.

Can You Talk to or Meet Adoptive Parents Before Choosing Them?

Yes. You can talk to and meet prospective adoptive parents before deciding whether to move forward with them.

Conversations give you deeper insight than a profile alone can provide. You can start with an agency-facilitated conference call, exchange text messages or emails, or meet in person if you feel comfortable doing so.

These interactions give you the opportunity to ask personal questions, hear their voices and evaluate how well your communication styles match before finalizing your adoption plan.

How Are Prospective Adoptive Parents Screened?

Before a family can adopt, they must complete an adoption home study. This process is conducted by a licensed professional and evaluates whether prospective parents are prepared to provide a safe, stable home for a child and meet applicable requirements to adopt. A home study typically includes:

• Background Checks: Criminal history and child abuse and neglect clearances
• Home Visits: An evaluation of the home environment and basic health and safety requirements
• Financial Review: Documentation showing the family has the financial stability to support a child
• Health Information: Medical information about the prospective parents
• References and Interviews: Conversations with the family and personal references to learn more about their relationships, background and readiness to adopt

These screenings help establish that a family is eligible and prepared to adopt, but they cannot determine whether that family is the right fit for you. You decide which prospective parents best align with what you want for your child and the relationship you hope to have after adoption.

You Can Choose the Kind of Relationship You Want With the Adoptive Family

You can decide what kind of relationship you want with your child and the adoptive family after placement. Thinking about that relationship early can also help you look for prospective parents who want the same level of openness and communication.

• Open Adoption: Direct communication can include texts, phone or video calls, photos and in-person visits, allowing you and the adoptive family to build an ongoing relationship.
• Semi-Open Adoption: You can receive updates, letters and photos and maintain contact with the adoptive family while keeping certain personal information private. We can help facilitate communication between you and the family.
• Closed Adoption: Little or no contact occurs between you and the adoptive family after placement, and identifying information can remain private.

As you consider prospective families, talk about the kind of contact, updates and visits you want after adoption. Finding a family with similar expectations can help you build the relationship you want moving forward.

What If You Don’t Like Any of the Adoptive Families You See?

You do not have to choose a family simply because you reviewed their profile. If none of the prospective families you see reflect what you want for your child, you can keep looking and adjust your preferences with your adoption specialist.

At American Adoptions, we work with hundreds of hopeful adoptive families across the country, giving you the opportunity to consider families with different backgrounds, lifestyles and plans for adoption.

What If You Change Your Mind About the Adoptive Parents You Chose?

Choosing prospective adoptive parents as part of your adoption plan is different from legally consenting to your baby’s adoption. If you change your mind about the family you selected, you can talk with your adoption specialist about reviewing other families or reconsidering your adoption plan.

Adoption consent is a separate legal step governed by the laws of your state. State laws determine when consent can be given, how it must be completed and when it becomes legally effective. Your adoption specialist and attorney can explain the requirements that apply to your situation before you make any legal decisions.

Can You Find Adoptive Parents Without an Adoption Agency?

Yes. You may find prospective adoptive parents through friends, relatives, personal connections or other independent means. Finding a family on your own, however, is only one part of the adoption process.

Before an adoption can be completed, prospective parents must meet applicable screening and home study requirements, and the adoption must follow your state’s legal requirements. You may also need professionals to coordinate legal services, counseling, hospital planning and other parts of your adoption plan.

Working with an adoption agency brings these services together while giving you access to additional screened families if the family you initially considered is not the right fit. With American Adoptions, you also have a specialist supporting you throughout the process while you remain in control of your adoption decisions.

Find Carefully Screened Adoptive Families With American Adoptions

As a national adoption agency, American Adoptions gives you access to many carefully screened prospective adoptive families across the country. You can consider families with different backgrounds, locations, lifestyles, family structures and values as you look for parents who reflect what you want for your child’s future.

Your adoption specialist can help you identify families based on your preferences, share profiles and arrange conversations with the prospective parents you want to know more about. We are here to provide information and support throughout that process, but the decision of which family to choose remains yours.

Start Looking for an Adoptive Family When You’re Ready

You do not have to decide on adoption before speaking with an American Adoptions specialist. Fill out our confidential online contact form to talk about what you want for your child’s future, get answers to your questions and begin viewing prospective adoptive families that reflect your preferences.

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