Adoption Overview

If you and your partner have been unsuccessful with fertility treatments, you may be actively discussing other options that will allow you to add to your family.

Surrogacy, egg donation, and sperm donation are often viable choices for many couples struggling with infertility. Adoption is also a wonderful way of extending and enriching your family.

But the adoption process is not an easy one. Adoption can sometimes be a very complex procedure and you and your partner will need to decide which type of adoption is right for you.

This adoption overview will provide you with some insight on the basic types of adoption.

How Common is Adoption?

Adoption is becoming more and more popular in different countries all over the world. In the United States, more than 120,000 children are adopted every year.

Of these children, 51,000 are adopted from foster care and 21,000 are adopted internationally. Adoption continues to rise in popularity throughout the United States.

Who Pursues Adoption?

Many different people make the decision to adopt.

Adoption is often pursued by:

  • couples experiencing infertility
  • single women
  • same sex couples

Benefits of Adoption

Adoption can offer you and your adoptive child countless benefits.

Some of these benefits include:

  • the opportunity to extend your family
  • the opportunity to experience the pregnancy and birthing process
  • the opportunity to fulfill your child rearing dreams

Costs of Adoption

The costs of adoption vary, depending upon the type of adoption you decide to pursue. Typically, public agency adoptions are the least expensive.

Other forms of adoption can cost anywhere between $7,000 and $30,000. These costs cover legal expenses, the cost of your adoption home study, and any expenses incurred by the birth mom if she is pregnant.

How Do You Adopt?

There are two routes that prospective adoptive parents follow when starting the adoption process.

Agency Adoption

An agency adoption is an adoption that is performed with the help of a private or public organization that specializes in adoption procedures.

Public agencies are often run by state or local governments, and may include child welfare services, social services, or foster care branches of the government. Public agencies are typically less expensive or even free, but often do not deal in infant adoption.

Private agencies are run by profit-driven or non-profit organizations. These organizations are very familiar with adoption laws and can help match you with suitable birth parents.

Private agencies are expensive, however, they can help you with all of the legal details involved in adopting a child.

Table of Contents
1. Is adoption for you?
2. What are my adoption choices?
 
 
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