New here and would love some advice!

My wife and I just brought home our son this weekend and have had the most amazing adoption experience possible. We are also in the Central Florida Area, so hopefully this will help. I would contact Catholic Charities of Central Florida. You don't have to be Catholic, just have some religious affiliation. They can perform the home study for you, and if you decide to go through a different agency you can still use the home study. I don't think you would want to look elsewhere though because it is a much different experience then what I have heard about with attorneys and some agencies. It is more about finding the child that is meant for you and not about getting your money. They have a series of classes for potential adoptive parents in which they teach you about all of the issues that come up from being an adoptive parent. They also bring in both birth mothers and other adoptive parents to tell their stories and answer questions. It was a very moving and informative opportunity that made my wife and I feel even more confident that we were doing the right thing. Our counselor is amazing, and our birth mother is a blessing. We were very fortunate and realize that our adoption story may not be typical. We started the classes and home study in January and again our son was born last week. So it really wasnt the long drawn out process that you can sometimes hear about. As far as advantages for an attorney vs. agency I would just find what you are comfortable with. My personal thought is attorneys and some agencies try to get you matched up very quickly so that you can start paying the medical bills of a birth mother. If she decides not to continue with the adoption you may or may not be out of that money. Catholic Charities does not even show your profile until the final trimester. And they cover all the legal and medical expenses prior to finalization. We had about 3 weeks notice, and I couldn't have taken another day because the anticipation was killing me. Again, I would just give them a call, if they are not the right agency for you I am sure they will happily put you in touch with a better fit. Best of Luck, it is truly an amazing experience!