Minimum conditions for adoption?

I'm not sure there's one age under which no one should adopt. I know I needed to be at least 35 before i was ready. But that was because i needed time to grow u, deal with baggage, and get a career :) I got married super young (moved in with him when i was 17). Everyone seemed to have a minimum age for partnering... everyone knew we'd fail because we were too young. We are celebrating out 25 wedding anniversary in little over a month. so :p As far as age, so long as you're financially able to care for both of you and have dealt with whatever you needed to deal with ahead of time and are mature enough to be able to forever put yourself second to the child, you're in a good place to adopt Other than that, :cheer:

I believe the bare min. in age is 21....depending on which agency you choose they could have different financial requirements. I went through the county fost/adopt so they just needed to know I could pay my mortgage, bills, etc. without using any state money. Good for you for investigating :) ETA: you don't have to own a home to adopt....you just need the room....e.g. don't think that you'd be ok setting up a crib in your room in a one bedroom apt. LOL even though a child under 2 can sleep in your room.....you'd need at least 2 bedrooms.

I don't know if there is a minimum age to adopt. I know I wasn't ready emotionally until my mid-20's and financially until my late-30's. Financially, I sometimes still don't feel ready :eek: You do not have to own a home to adopt. You just have to have enough room in your house or apartment for the child, so as Dannie said, you will need at least 2 bedrooms. I am adopting through fostercare and I just had to show that I could support myself without relying on the fostercare stipend (because that is meant for the child's expenses). I worried alot that they would deny me because sometimes money is tighter than I would like, but it wasn't an issue at all. I have worked for the same company for 15 years, so I don't know what the minimum time would have been. I didn't get the feeling, however, that they cared much about length of employment, only that I was currently employed.

What is the biggest problem anyone has found in being a young, single adoptive parent? What if you have a support network but they all live far away so you'd basically be on your own? Can you go through the adoption process without informing your family?

I don't have any family near me, but they did want to talk to one reference from my family so they could get a sense of how my family and i interacted. They wanted reference letters from my local friends and mentor to see that I had a support system in place. They want you to be stable- so having a job for at least 1 yr is preferable, but mostly they want to see you can pay the rent & bills for yourself on your own. The min age here is 21, I was 25 when I started the process, and I am a teacher at a private school so- poor is what we are. ;)

Each state has different rules, so check the adoption website for the state in which you live, if that is the route you are planning on taking. I live in Georgia. Listed below are the qualifications to adopt from the foster care system here.