Over the years, an open adoption arrangement may need to evolve to accommodate the changing needs of everyone involved — above all, the child.
Ask AF: Working with Two Agencies
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: Sharing Details We Found Online
“After my daughter’s birth family stopped corresponding, I looked them up online. Is it unethical to share this information with her, since I obtained it without their consent?”
Ask AF: Restrictions to Adoption
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: Adopting an Acquaintance
Answers to your parenting questions.
Ask AF: When to Share Birth Parent Information
Answers to your parenting questions.
Adoption Basics for Single Parents or Same Sex Couples
When non-traditional families are making the decision to adopt, the first questions they often have are, “How will my identity impact my adoption?”
Deciding to Adopt: What About Birth Families?
“We cannot build healthy relationships with our children on secrecy and lies—and this includes lies of omission.”
Ask AF: Navigating Disagreements with the Birth Family
Answers to your parenting questions.
Who Needs to Know Your Child’s Adoption Story?
Should I tell my child’s doctor she was adopted? What about her school?
The Basics of Open Adoption
What is “open adoption” — and what might it mean for your family?
Our Adoption Referral Story
AF readers share how they reacted when they received their adoption referral.
Responding to an Adoption Referral
Don’t agree to any match or referral on the spot. Before moving forward, ask yourself these questions.
Choosing a Referral or Expectant Mother Match: The Basics
What happens when you get a referral?
How and When to Share Your Adoption News
Our adoptive families recommend that you share your plans in stages. While adoptions take, on average, one year from the date your home study is accepted, you won’t be in control of the timing. And if yours drags on, the last thing you want is daily phone calls asking, “So … any news?”
Getting Help to Finance Adoption
There are enough sources of financial support for adoption so that you can, in all likelihood, get your costs down to a manageable figure.
What Happens if my Agency or Attorney Screws Up?
If your adoption drags on and on, or if you keep getting birth mother matches or child referrals that don’t come close to your requirements, you’ll have to think about making a change.
Who Can Help Gay Families Adopt?
LGBT prospective parents may face extra hurdles because of a state’s adoption law, an agency’s philosophy, or the attitude of an individual social worker.
Questions to Ask Your Potential Adoption Attorney
“Niceness is not typically a concern when you are looking for an attorney to litigate a case, but in an adoption, when the attorney is going to have direct contact with the birth parents, you need your legal representative to be a likeable person!”
Questions to Ask Your Potential Adoption Agency
We can’t say this often enough. Look for an agency or attorney that has completed lots of adoptions just like yours: same kind of child, same kind of parents.