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Where Do I Start?

Adoption Information for Beginners

Part Two

By National Adoption Information Clearinghouse

Adoption services through a public agency are usually free or available for a modest fee, since the services are funded through State and Federal taxes. As mentioned earlier, federal or state subsidies are sometimes available to assist families adopting a child with special needs. If a child has no special needs, adoptive parents may only be asked to pay legal fees, which are often quite reasonable. In some cases, subsidies may even be available for the legal fees, too.

Children in the custody of a public agency were either abused, neglected or abandoned by their birthparents. Abuse and neglect can leave physical and emotional scars. It is important to discuss all aspects of a child's history with the agency social workers and to discuss the availability of counseling or other services, just in case they might be needed, before deciding to adopt a child with a traumatic history.

Another parenting option available through public agencies is foster parenting. Children are placed with foster parents to give birthparents a chance to improve their situations. Birthparents are offered counseling and services during this time. Foster parents receive a monthly stipend for a child's living expenses. In general, the goal of the foster care program is to reunite the child with his or her birthparents if at all possible. However, there is a growing trend toward freeing children for adoption (that is, terminating the parental rights of the birthparents) as quickly as possible to prevent years of drifting in foster care. Recent federal legislation (Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 - P.L. 105-89) has mandated courts to seek termination of parental rights when a child has been in foster care for 15 out of the past 22 months unless there are extenuating circumstances.

More and more foster parents are adopting their foster children. This is particularly true for foster children of color or those with specal needs. In almost all states, the vast majority of children adopted from the public foster care system were adopted by their foster parents or by their relatives.

Want to see more?

• The Surrogacy Search: Starting Out
• Waiting Children: Foster Care and Adoption Basics
• Check out our Article Library.
• Talk about it!