Comments on: Want To Find A Way To Adopt A Child Without Having To Go Through Foster Parenting.?

By: R

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:08:58 +0000

You don’t have to be a foster parent to adopt you can adopt children legally free. There are few babies but pleanty of toddlers up for adoption.

By: Mom to Foster Children

Mom to Foster Children — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:44:10 +0000

There is no other way. It’s either Private adoption (which you stated you don’t have the money for) or Foster to Adopt. Now, you can adopt an older child (over the age of 5ish) that is legally free for adoption through Foster Care – and that’s basically free.

By: kims

kims — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 09:10:00 +0000

Have you spoken to DCF in your area? In my state you get licensed either for foster care or for adoption. If you are licensed for adoption DCF will only place children in your home whose parents rights have already been terminated and who they couldn’t place with relatives. I think you should call social services and ask them how it works where you are.

By: cricketl

cricketl — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 03:16:45 +0000

Adopting through foster care requires a wait too as not all kids in foster care will be available for adoption–and if the child does become available in foster care it’s highly unlikely that child will be moved to another family.So if you don’t want to foster , with the chance the child will return home, then your choices —are very few.

By: Dorian

Dorian — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:14:00 +0000

You can actual adopt through Child Protective Services without being foster parents. You will need to complete some classes and have full background checks and home studies but then you can go on the list of prospective adoptive homes. You can classify what type child you want (sex, race, age) but the more picky you are the more likely you will wait longer. Yes, most of the children adopted through foster care were removed from abusive/neglectful parents but there are also mothers that relinquish their babies, asking CPS to find them a home. These children are adopted and not fostered. It would be worth contacting your local CPS office to find out.

By: Meg D

Meg D — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:38:30 +0000

Adoption is not an easy process. There are many requirements that the adoptive couple will have to meet before they are allowed to move forward with the adoption. Here is a list showing some of the criteria:
* * Marital Status
* * Length of Marriage
* * Age of Adoptive Parents
* * Health and Disabilities Issues of Adoptive Parents
* * Use of Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco
* * Fertility Status
* * Other Children in the Family
* * Financial Status
* * Employment Stability
The cost of adoption depends on how they choose to proceed. If they use the US foster care system, there is little or almost no cost to the adoptive parents. In some states, subsidies are offered. Stepparent or kinship adoptions usually cost up to $2,500.
Using an agency, private or international adoption can cost up to $30,000.

By: Wundt

Wundt — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:57:16 +0000

I am not sure why you think foster-to-adopt leads to heartache? I assume you are referring to cases where children are returned to abusive/neglectful biological parents rather than placed for adoption. While this happens (and note that reunification is the goal of foster care) you can adopt through foster care without actually being a ‘foster parent’.
When you sign up and take the foster certification classes they ask you what sort of foster cases you are willing to take. You can request that *only* children who have already been placed for adoption be placed with you. In these cases, the custody of the child has already been resolved by the courts and the placement is for adoption. Such children are typically placed in homes looking to adopt (if available), the home study and trial period are completed, and the court finalizes the adoption (just like a private adoption).
However, most people who work in or have been through the process will recommend you become foster parents and/or take ‘legal risk’ cases (instances where the case is still working through the courts, but the social workers feel it likely the child will be placed for adoption). By taking cases with uncertain futures you increase your chances of a placement and speed up the process in general.
If you are willing to wait, then there will be no ‘heart ache’. Then again, “nothing ventured, nothing gained”.
In our case, we adopted two young boys. They were a “legal risk” case when they came to live with us. We went through several months when we didn’t know if they were going to placed for adoption or not. Eventually, the case was resolved and we adopted them. We KNOW that if we had not foster them first, taken that chance, we would never have had the chance to adopt them.
Yes, we do know some people who had placements not work out, either the child was too much to handle or the bio parents won back their parental rights, but for the most part, even those people would agree the chance you take it worth the reward.

By: cmc

cmc — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:25:23 +0000

I don’t have an easy answer, but wanted to clarify that many adoptions are newborn adoptions in the US (domestic adoptions), usually done through private agencies. These generally cost about the same as international adoptions ($15,000+). We adopted an infant 3 years ago. Our wait was less than a year, but it varies widely. With domestic adoption the first mom usually picks the family for her child, so the wait is not predictable. Our adoption was about $18,000 – not cheap, but luckily we could do it. The costs were spread out over the year, so it wasn’t all at once.