child you adopt may have some special needs, depending on their original family circumstances. Public agencies do not place children for adoption until they have been legally deemed available so issues with birth parents are less common. State law determines how confidentiality of adoption records is handled.

There are many, many children in need of permanent homes. These adoptions generally have very few costs associated with them and sometimes include subsidies if the child has special needs. They can also be accomplished relatively quickly and with excellent oversight and supervision.

However, you must feel able to cope with any issues that the child brings to you from their prior unhealthy living situation. As well, there are rarely infants available through this pathway. Infants who are removed from the home go into foster care and are most frequently adopted by foster parents. It can also take some time to declare the infant available for adoption, during which time he or he is growing older.

 

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families maintains a complete listing of all public agencies by state with contact names, telephone numbers, websites, etc. You can find the listing here. http://naic.acf.hhs.gov/general/nad/index.cfm

 

Private Adoption Agencies

 

Most states license private adoption agencies whose role is to facilitate adoptions. That role includes identifying prospective parent(s) and children in need, conducting home studies to evaluate the prospective parent(s) ability to be a good parent, arranging the adoption and providing post-placement services.

 

These licensed agencies offer the advantages of having expert staff that are knowledgeable in all aspects of the adoption process to guide you, established programs with agencies, outreach to people who want to place a child for adoption and resources to work through any bumps in the road.

 

Private agencies often work both domestically and internationally and they are, for all practical purposes, the only way to pursue international adoption. Private agencies provide one way to adopt a healthy infant from the United States.

 

The disadvantages of the private agency are primarily higher cost since you pay the agency fees as well and, in some cases, agencies set their own criteria for eligibility to adopt. Those criteria may include, for example, a particular religious affiliation for some faith-based agencies or a statement that you are no longer actively pursuing infertility treatment. Private agencies tend to involve birth parents in the adoptive process and some allow the birth parents to select their baby’s new family from family portfolios that are developed.