There are so many children who need a stable home who are orphans and in the foster program. What a great gift you can give a child by adopting them.
There are many reasons why one is considering adoption:
Maybe you are not able to get pregnant and still want to raise a child
Maybe you have grown kids out of the house and feel the calling to be parents to orphans
Maybe you have a relative who just lost their parents and they need to be with family
Does adoption cost money?
Depends on how you adopt, it is free if you go through the foster program, but it is a long drawn out process where you might be caring for these children for a long time and then the biological parents might change their mind and will want them back after you have had them for a year or two and have the right to take them back.
So, you can choose a public or private adoption agency, public agencies is where you would go the route of foster care where a private agency could be non-profit or profit where they would charge a fee for their services. Private agencies can also work with the public agencies if you decide you want to adopt a child in the foster care system. Based on the average costs – it is about $25,000 to adopt; some agencies will be lower and some higher.
The free route will take much longer than the route of paying a fee for it to be not as a long-drawn out process.
If you want to adopt overseas, that is a different story that can take many years and money. There have been stories where a couple will decide to adopt a child from China yet it can take up to 3 years or more for them to go through the process and pick up their baby in China.
What types of adoptions are there?
There are 3 choices for adoption: closed, open, and semi-open
Closed adoption is the adoption agency will choose the adoptive family and after the adoption, the birth parents will not have any contact with the family or child.
Semi-open adoption, first names are shared with the adoptive parents, the birth parents may have some say in the selection of the adoptive parents but there will be little or no contact with the child or family.
Open adoption is that the birth parents may choose their child’s family; they may stay in touch where some birth parents want letters and photos while others want occasional visits and phone calls.
How to choose an agency?
Every county has a public children services agency (PCSA) and private agencies are throughout the state. Contacting a public or private can you help you determine what course you would like to do, here are a few questions to ask the agencies to help you decide which agency you want to use:
- How many and what type of children has the agency placed in homes for the past few years?
- What are the characteristics of those children?
- How long does the process take on average? Once I do my part, how long do I wait for the child?
- What are the agency’s policies on paperwork, educational classes and visits?
- Are there any adoptions subsidies that are available?
- Where there any adoption disruptions in the past 5 years?
- Does the adoption agency provide services for the child and family after the adoption is finalized, such as counseling, classes, etc.?
- Can the agency provide references of family who have recently used your services?
The Adoption Process
Attending an informational meeting/orientation
It’s where you find out more about the agency, the steps you would need to take to adopt, and what to do next.
Pre-service Training
These are educational classes where the agency will get to know you to find strengths and weaknesses, where you learn about the children, will explore every point of view on the adoption process, give parent expectations on what to expect when adopting on how the child will be behave and how to handle the child, etc.
The Home Study
This is where an assessor will come in and look at your home and it takes time to teach the whole family about getting prepared for the adoption process. The family will look at how they are as a family to be aware of different parenting skills, how they cope as a family, and to see every aspect of different situations in order to be prepared for the child.
Matching children with families
Your assessor will identify a child for you as a possible match and will give you information on the child and to see if your family agrees that the child could be a match. Also, the medical history should be discussed with the family doctor to make sure the family is aware of any medical history.
The assessor will schedule pre-placement visits for the child and family to get to know one another before placing the child in the home.
Placement of the child into the Adoptive Home
The child will be placed in your home where the assessor will still make visits and after 6 months, then the family will be eligible to petition the court to finalize the adoption. The court will rule if all goes well, then the child will get a new birth certificate and becomes part of the family!
Post Finalization Services
There are formal and informal services available to the family for counseling, support groups, medical services, etc. to help the family to transition.
There are also financial services that may help financially to adopt a child. For more information, click here to learn more:http://www.odjfs.state.oh.us/forms/num/JFS%2001985/
Here is also a list of adoption agencies around the area:
Choosing Hope Adoptions
616 N Limestone St, Springfield, OH 45503
Phone number: (937) 471-2954
Website: http://www.choosinghopeadoptions.org
Bethany Christian Services
665 E. Dublin Granville Road, Suite 410, Columbus OH 43229
Phone number: 614-448-2885
Website: https://www.bethany.org/columbus-oh
Adoption by Gentle Care
370 South Fifth Street, Suite 6, Columbus, OH 43215-5433
Phone number: 614-469-0007
Website:https://www.adoptionbygentlecare.org/
Building Blocks Adoption Agency
52 Public Square, Medina, OH 44256
Phone number: 1-866-321-ADOPT
Website: www.bbas.org