Adoption Agency
Couples who have no biological children or already have children sometimes choose to adopt to complement or add to their family. When you face difficulty in conceiving, then adoption or fertility treatment may be offered to you. With many popular movie stars and celebrities opting to adopt, average couples are more open to adoption now more than ever. Approaching an adoption agency is the first step you should take for adding to your family.
Before you make the decision to approach an adoption agency, if you are married, you and your spouse should both realize this is a major and important step to a long commitment and that the addition of a new baby or child to your family will change your lifestyle and schedules for ever. You should both realize the impact on your careers and the responsibilities of raising and rearing a child until he or she is eighteen. Both you and your spouse should appreciate the financial responsibilities of nurturing a child and providing emotional and physical support throughout your lives. Adoption is a costly venture and may cost anything between $20,000 and $30,000.
When you are considering the services of an adoption agency, or if you are hoping for an independent adoption, one of the first formalities that you will be expected to fulfill is the Home Study. In the Home Study, the adoption agency will accumulate information from questionnaires, interviews and other data that you will be asked to fill out. The adoption agency will use this information to assess your ability as fitting parents for the child. The Home Study serves as a legal document that informs the Courts that the prospective adoptive family has satisfied some of the criteria that state and federal guidelines demand from adoptive parents. The birth mother would also be privy to this information and be able to assess from it whether the prospective parents would be able to satisfy her aspirations for her child.
States in the US have their own guidelines and laws pertaining to Adoption. Some States like Oklahoma have better laws for Adoption, but Home Study details accumulate the same basic information. The Home Study collects information on health, drug screening, financial health and references from friends and family of the prospective parents. The Home study would include a background check on the criminal past, child sex abuse and child abuse, sex offender check etc. on the potential adoptive parents. These checks are required in most states including Oklahoma. Adoption agency requirements vary from one agency to the next and screening may depend on some agency specific guidelines. If you are approved, the process of finding and matching with a birth mother follow.
