How Long Did You Wait?

It was just under two months for us, with one agency (they told us it would be a 1 - 3 year wait!). The agency never said it, but hinted the reason we were placed so fast is because we were open on a LOT of things: race; mental health of parent (except schizophrenia); drug use; HIV (can be reversed in infants these days); Hep A, B, C; unknown bfather. In fact, we were the ONLY couple that wanted our profile shown to the first mom of our DD. :( Which is a shame, because all those waiting parents missed out on THE most fabulous, awesome, wonderful, healthy, perfect baby girl in the world. :D And I am in no way encouraging you to change your profile to get a fast placement! It worked for us, because I researched those choices to death, and we were/and are very comfortable with ALL of those issues.

We were signed with an agency in a neighboring state that I had previously heard good things about that placed a lot of AA babies. We waited from August or Sept to May the next year with a few phone calls and showings, but nothing else. We signed with someone else in May and were matched in July for a baby born the end of Sept. So total, we waited for a year. We had to update our homestudy to bring our little guy home.The popular thinking is that if you are open to AA babies, you won't wait long. I don't think that is as true as it was a few years ago. There are more and more people adoptiong AA babies, and it's all in what the mom reading profiles likes. I did think that a year was crazy at the time. I also currently have friends waiting to adopt an AA baby who have been waiting for 6 months.Specifying gender may also contribute to your wait, just so you know. Also, you need to discuss what you will do if you are matched with a baby they think is a boy, but ends up being a girl...it happens. Would you then not adopt that baby? If so, that may be concerning to a mom considering placing. Just food for thought.

From when we applied: 2 years, 10 months. From officially being in the waiting pool: 2 years, 5 months. Good luck!

It took us from August to November to complete our homestudy. We went active with the agency we adopted from (we were active with multiple agencies) in December and brought our son home in February. So, from the start: 6 months. From the time we were active: 2 months. However my husband is AA, and we were called about several situations where the emom required that at least one of the parents be AA. We were open to either gender. Also, the agency had a lot more emoms delivering December through March than they have right now. . .not sure why, but that may make a difference as well. There is nothing wrong with you! You never know what an emom is looking for (for example, we had a family pick us that had turned down several families already. We found out that they all said they were planning to send their child to private school-she liked that we planned to send our child to public school. Ultimately, she decided to parent.) It sounds cliche, but I believe the child that is meant to be yours will come to you, in his own time! Good luck!

We waited just a month for our first match...birthmom decided to parent. Another month for our second match...found seriously medical issues we were not prepared for, so no adoption. Then we waited 5 months for our final match.....the one that resulted in us adopting our beautiful daughter. We brought her home almost exactly one year from the time we started the homestudy process.

If you specify gender, then the wait will be longer. However, because you want a boy, and there seem to be more boys than girls available for adoption, that might make it a wash. For our first adoption in 2005/2006, we signed in May, matched in October, and brought our son home in January. Eight months. This time, we began our home study last March, and completed it in September. We are specifying gender - girl - and race - at least part "AA". We matched a few weeks ago. In theory, we'll be bringing our daughter home in August. However, the expectant mom can certainly change her mind at any time between now and then. There are so many factors that can impact your wait time. Budget is a big one, for example. Having a failed match is another. You just kind of have to keep on keepin' on and know that your child will come home. :hippie:

I do agree that budget is a huge issue when it comes to the wait for a match. If you are on a tight budget you may have a longer wait...if you have a generous budget that allows you to be considered for many placements you will likely match much quicker.