Adoption

WHY ADOPTION?

There are couples that are struggling to start a family or want a family and looking for alternative ways to make it a reality for them. That's where adoption should have a more prominent place at the table next to infertility and surrogacy. Some of these people could also be empty nesters who open up there homes for adoption. There are so many kids, teens, babies that need a loving home, safety, stability,
and the chance to really thrive instead of being in survial mode.
Could you be that someone for them?

Every adoption is worth it!


Learning the lingo and pathways to adoption

Expenses: "It's so expensive to adopt." A common phrase heard when adoption comes up. Actually, it only depends on which route you take that it becomes expensive.

1. A straight adoption from foster care, meaning the adoptive parents were not first foster parents. Most states require that the adoptive parent is approved as foster parent(s) before adopting a child in the foster care system.

2. Adoption through the foster care systems costs significantly less than any of the other avenues of adoption. Adoption through foster care is usually free for the adoptive parents.

3. Most foster and adoptive parents also receive a monthly stipend to help cover the costs of raising the child, and this adoption subsidy may increase depending on any special needs the child has.

4. There are also ways to adopt through agencies or without an agency and still recieve help. Employers offer Adoption benefits, there is a tax credit, grants, and fundraising options as well.

Open Adoption: Adoptive parents can decide to have an open adoption with their childs' birth parents, but that choice remains with the adoptive parents. It is not forced upon you to build a relationship with the childs' birth parents, or even the childs' extended family. Choosing an Open Adoption allows benefits for you and the child. For example:

It creates a stronger relationships with your child and the adoptive parents. It offers the ability to choose a family you love to adopt the child, always know where the child went and with who. It gives peace of mind knowing the child is safe, healthy and loved.It allows direct access to family medical information. A connection to thier cultural and ethnic background, ancestry, and first-hand answers that would otherwise be unavailable in a closed adoption.

Closed Adoption: Closed Adoptions are on the decline with only 5% of adoptions retaining the status through agencies. Most adoptions have some aspect of open adoptions to them. Closed adoptions are not always the best, they leave the child with unanswered questions just lingering about in thier mind. A closed adoption severs ties with any bio family and files. This does containg a benefitial element in an unsafe situation as they can be kept confidential until they are older.




Facts

Teen Adoption Myths

  • False. A family. A forever family. Many people wonder why teens even need to be adopted since they are already almost living on their own. Despite their age, these teens are still just children, desperate for a family to call their own. Many of them are sibling groups, desperate to stay together, yearning to find someone to take them all.

  • For many that means they are handed $800 and put on the streets. Some foster parents crrontinue to offer their teens homes, but many do not. Many have not even graduated high school, yet find themselves homeless or couch surfing. A very high percentage of teens that age out of the foster care system find themselves homeless, pregnant, or abusing drugs and alcohol.

  • Single people are legally allowed to adopt in all 50 states, and there are many foster care agencies that will license to single people.

  • There is no reason that because you adopt an older child, they won’t ever feel like yours. You can bond with a child at any age. Simply because you adopt a child when they are older and miss the smooshy baby stage does not mean you have missed it all. There are so many firsts to be had and to bond over. (the beach for the first time, first airplane trip, first dance, first time driving).




Adopt a teen today!