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Today is my first day in our journey of fulfilling our lifelong dream of adopting a baby. After years of infertility and failed IVF's and 3 surgeries, we have decided to adopt. This is in totally uncharted waters for us. A scary mission. I am afraid of the unknown. We live in Los Angeles, CA and any advice that you can share with us on how to just get started would be greatly appreciated. What are the first steps we need to take toward becoming parents. Any advice as to where to start, what to read, where to sign up, timeframes, share success stories, fees, lawyers, babies vs toddler or older children? I'll take anything you are willing to share with us. Please recommend reputable agencies that are not private.Thank you. Yolonda
Last update on March 11, 3:32 pm by Yolonda Krzyzak.
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How exciting to be starting on this new journey! I'm excited for you. I'm not in California so I don't have any resources for agencies, but I highly recommend reading reviews while you're searching for the right one. Good luck!You might find these resources helpful:http://california.adoption.com/ https://adoption.com/california-adoption-guide https://adoption.com/baby-adoption
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Hi, Yolonda! Welcome to the adoption community! You're standing on the cusp of a journey that will take you places you never thought you'd go. One resource you might want to check out at this point is the general "How to Adopt" guide on Adoption.com. Here's a link: https://adoption.com/how-to-adopt-a-child-guide. It'll walk you through the different types of adoption and give you an overview of the process. Question, though: What do you mean by "not private" agencies? An agency that is public is generally going to be looking to place kids through the foster care system. . . is that what you're primarily interested in?
RK, You're correct in that I didn't think I would ever be on this journey. I will look into the resources you've recommended. What I meant by private agency, well I don't know. I am so new to this, thanks for bringing up that point. I do not want to go through the foster care system. Thank you
Yolonda, you may have been thinking of a non-profit vs a for-profit adoption program. I'd definitely recommend a non-profit. And if you're planning on adopting a child via a direct placement (ie, the birth mother chooses you and places the child with you), I'd look carefully into how the agency or attorney helps expectant parents considering adoption and evaluate whether you feel like they're being ethical and responsible. Here's a great article on birth parent coercion that can kind of give you a feel for what to look for: https://adoption.com/coercion-in-adoption-what-it-...
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If you are willing to adopt a child that is already waiting your process time can be quite short. We adopted our daughter from Bulgaria at the end of 2015. She was 4 years old, was a waiting child with some medical concerns and fairly delayed developmentally. Our process was 14 months and we are already starting for our second! She is amazing. The cutest, sassiest, little thing! Adoption is expensive but typically the fees come in smaller chunks so when you see the big numbers, try not to panic!