ADOPTION IN
Alabama
Adoption in Alabama is one option for those considering placing a baby for adoption or adopting a child into their own family. One of your first steps in pursuing an adoption in Alabama will be partnering with a trusted adoption agency that has your best interest at heart.
Adoption Near Me
Looking for more resources in your area? Check out the Adoption Directory for a listing of adoption professionals in your state.
Alabama is home to expectant parents and hopeful adoptive parents waiting to connect and build forever families together. Learn more about the adoption process today. Join the Alabama adoption group in our community!
Considering Placing Your Baby or Child for Adoption? You can learn more here or call an adoption counselor 1-800-236-7898.
Domestic Infant Adoptions can be completed through an Alabama adoption agency or adoption attorney. Click here for a directory of adoption service providers in Alabama.
International Adoptions must be completed through an accredited adoption agency. Find an international adoption service provider here.
Foster Care Adoptions can be completed through the Alabama Department of Human Resources (866-425-5437).
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Alabama Adoption
By: Heather Mithcell
Do you understand what it means to adopt a child? Jessica Heesch provides us with a beautiful insight into the reality of adoption in her article, “Define Adopt.” She describes adoption as an “all-encompassing, life-changing, hopeful, and a lifelong process.” She goes on to describe her experience in the courtroom during the day her son’s adoption was finalized. The judge asked her and her husband a question, and she details the situation in this article.
“I remember when we were in court officially adopting our son, and the judge asked us what adoption meant to us and if we understood that it was something that was forever. As my husband fought back the tears, he explained what it meant for us to finally become a family of three through the gift of adoption. He explained that we would never look at our son like he was anything less than ours. He explained that we would love him like he was our own until our dying day. He explained that this was not something we decided on a whim. This was something we wanted and was by choice. He explained that we understood that we were making this choice for our son’s entire life. And that adopting our son was accepting him as our flesh and blood. No questions asked. No looking back. From that moment forward, he was ours, and we were his!”
Regardless of the state you live in, a national requirement for adopting a child is to make the decision to love a child unconditionally while providing a safe and loving environment for him or her. The excerpt above from Jessica’s article provides an outstanding example of what it means to love a child unconditionally in an adoptive situation.
If you are looking into information regarding adoption in Alabama, you’ve come to the right place. We are going to explore the specific requirements and information specific to adoption in Alabama. Adoption laws differ from state to state. This link is very informational regarding the laws specific to each state and provides the option to search specifically for these Alabama laws for many different topics which are listed below:
– Termination of Parental Rights
– Advertising and Facilitators
– Post-Adoption Contact Agreements
– Readoption after International Adoption
– Application for a U.S. Birth Certificate
According to the Alabama Department of Human Resources, there are always hundreds of foster children waiting for adoption in Alabama. The Alabama DHR has resourceful adoption information specific to Adoption in Alabama. Here, you will find links to more helpful and informational sites that will help aspiring adoptive parents on their journey. An interesting fact that I’ve learned from the Alabama DHR is that the state of Alabama does not charge fees for the adoption home study nor the actual placement of children. The Alabama DHR has provided easy access to loads of helpful information pertaining to adoption in Alabama. These additional sites and information are listed below.
The Adoption Checklist
Here, you will find a helpful guide to follow on your journey through adoption in Alabama. They provide you with the seven steps you will want to follow as you navigate through adoption in Alabama, and they also provide detailed information and additional resources for each step. The Adoption Checklist they’ve provided includes the seven steps listed below:
Step 1: Meeting Adoption Requirements
In addition to having a great desire to parent, nurture, love, and provide for children that need a forever home, there are additional basic requirements that adults need to meet. The Alabama DHS includes these requirements in Step 1.
– You must be over 19 years of age.
– If married, your marriage must be of at least three years duration.
– If you are a married couple, one must be a U.S. citizen.
– You must have adequate housing and personal space for the child or children adopted.
– You must be healthy enough to meet a child’s needs.
– You must be willing to undergo a thorough background check, including criminal history.
Step 2: Application Submittal
This step provides information on submitting your application for adoption in Alabama. This process includes completing an online inquiry form which can be located at this link. You will need to provide the following information while you complete this online inquiry form:
– Full name and date of birth
– Who else lives in your home
– Where you live
– If you’ve ever fostered before and additional specific home study information.
– Contact information including multiple telephone numbers, email address, and preferred method of contact.
– Languages preferred (spoken and written)
– Child preferences if available
Step 3: Group Preparation & Selection
After steps one and two are completed, you will be contacted regarding Group Preparation & Selection (GPS) meetings. According to the Alabama DHS, “GPS is a program designed specifically to educate potential adoptive and foster parent families on a variety of pertinent topics on their upcoming adoption experience. Topics covered in GPS meetings include discussion of the children available, the impact adoption may have on your family, behavior management techniques, separation and loss issues, and more. This preparation program will consist of 10 meetings totaling 30 classroom hours. In addition, the social worker will schedule a time to interview you and other family members in your home. Throughout the GPS meetings, a mutual selection process will help you and your family decide if adoption is right for you, what type of child will fit best in your family, and assist you in assessing your families strengths and needs.”
Step 4: Your Approval as an Adoptive Resource
The county department of resources will be the point of contact regarding your approval after you’ve completed the appropriate steps, family profile, and home study.
Step 5: Background Information & Preplacement Visits
In this step, the approved potential adoptive parents are able to review the child or children’s background information and address and questions or concerns that they have. The potential adoptive parents will also have the ability to begin visits with their potential adoptive children. This step may also lead to a decision to move forward with a placement agreement.
Step 6: Legal Action
This step begins once a child has been placed in a home for at least three months. A social worker will provide prospective adoptive parents the “Department’s Consent to Adopt” so that they may begin legal processes in this step.
Step 7: Adoption is A Lifelong Process
The Alabama Department of Human Resources provides an excellent, detailed description of this last step in this resourceful link. This is what they detail for Step 7: “The legal confirmation of your adoption is not the end, but rather the beginning of an experience that is unique. There will be exciting times and there may be challenges. Alabama Post Adoption Connections (APAC) is available to you and your family on your journey. Libraries (offering books, videos and other resource material), adoptive family groups, Buddy Family mentors, trained therapists network, a toll-free warm line for information and referral and camperships are but a few of the ways APAC provides support, education and empowerment to the adoption community. Contact APAC at 1-866-803-2722 and www.childrensaid.org/apac.”
Adoption FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
This resource provides the commonly asked questions pertaining to adoption in Alabama. For your convenience, I have listed below these questions that the Alabama Department of Human Services provides answers for. Please visit their link if you are interested in learning the answers to these commonly asked questions.
1. If I am interested in adopting a child from the Department of Human Resources, how do I apply?
2. How can I find out about children currently available for adoption?
3. How can adult adoptees get information on their adoption?
4. Can a birth mother or birth father member request the Office of Adoption locate the adoptee?
5. I have just moved to Alabama with an adopted child receiving adoption assistance that includes Medicaid. How can I get my child certified to receive Alabama Medicaid?
6. I am moving to another state with an adopted child receiving adoption assistance that includes Medicaid. How can I get my child certified to receive Medicaid in my new resident state?
Additional Adoption Resources
The Alabama Department of Human Resources provides a list of additional resources and contacts pertaining to adoption in Alabama. This list provides the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses to multiple different associations and adoption references that can help potential adoptive parents on their journey.
“It would still mean love, everlasting, unconditional love. A love you never knew existed. A love you didn’t know could exist. A love you only dreamed and hoped for. An experience you didn’t know if you would ever be able to experience. A love so strong built on a desire to become a family. A love that grew in your heart. A love that grows with each passing stage in your child’s life. A love so divine. A love that runs thicker than blood.” In Jessica Heesch’s article, “Define Adopt,” her beautiful views of what adoption means and the love that consists in an adoption melts my heart. I wish you the best of luck on your journey in this amazing type of love.
Alabama Adoption Guide
The information contained on this website is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional legal advice. Always seek the advice of a licensed and qualified professional. While the content of this website is frequently updated, information changes rapidly, and, therefore, some information may be out of date, and/or contain inaccuracies, omissions, or typographical errors.
Can I Adopt in Alabama?
Individuals hoping to adopt a child in Alabama need to be at least 19 or older. Your income must be high enough to support a family. Hopeful parents will also need a physician’s note stating they are physically able to support a child. Along with being in good health, the home must pass a home safety inspection. If married, you must be married for at least 1 year. Successful CPR certification for adults and children is also required.
What Adoption Regulations Exist in Alabama?
Advertising: It is unlawful for any person or entity in Alabama to advertise through print, electronic media, word of mouth, or any other source. While adoption facilitators (agency or individual) are allowed in Alabama, they can only receive payment for actual legal or medical expenses. § 26-10A-34
Relinquishment: Consent to the adoption can be given at any time before or after birth; however, it may be withdrawn 5 days after birth, or 5 days after signing, whichever comes last. Parents may revoke consent only if the court finds that the revocation is in the child’s best interest within 14 days after the birth of the child or 14 days after signing consent, whichever comes later. After the final adoption decree, consent can only be revoked if the signing of consent came under fraud or duress. After 1 year has passed since the adoption became final, consent can only be revoked in cases of kidnapping. § 26-10A-13
Birth Parent Expenses: The adoptive parents may pay medical, hospital, and living expenses that are connected to the pregnancy.
Post-adoption Contact Agreement: These agreements are not legally enforceable in Alabama.
Finalization: The average time between TPR and adoption finalization in 2014 was 11.2 months.
Is Adoption Assistance Available in Alabama?
Many of the children waiting in foster care to be adopted in Alabama have special needs. Federal (Title IV-E) and state (non-IV-E) programs exist to help adoptive parents meet their child’s needs. In Alabama, children with special needs may qualify for up to $500 a month depending upon the age of the child. A special rate not to exceed $1,000 a month exists for children with extraordinary needs. Visit NACAC.org for more information.
Can I adopt a Child from another country?
Yes. In Alabama, parents can adopt a child from a different country, and the courts in Alabama will recognize the adoption as though the decree was issued by a court in Alabama.
State Contacts
Gallery of children waiting to be adopted: https://adoption.com/photolisting?page=1&search_type=state&range=2
Contact Adoption Intake:
Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR)
50 N. Ripley Street
Montgomery, AL 36130
Phone: 334-242-9500
Summary
Adoptions in Alabama can be completed through the Alabama Department of Human Resources.
Parents need to be at least 19 or older. Your income must be high enough to support a family. Applicants will need a physician’s note stating they are physically able to support a child. Parents need to complete a home study.
It is unlawful for any person or entity in Alabama to advertise through print, electronic media, word of mouth, or any other source. Consent to the adoption can be made at any time before or after birth, except that it may be withdrawn 5 days after birth, or 5 days after signing consent, whichever comes last.
Adoptive parents may pay medical, hospital, and living expenses that are connected to the pregnancy. Contact agreements are not legally enforceable.
The average time between TPR and adoption finalization in 2014 was 11.2 months.
