How to Adopt a Child

Adoption is a process where the adoptive parents take up the responsibility of a child and nurture him, till the child becomes independent enough to lead his own life. Child adoption brings a lot of happiness and also certain challenges in the lives of adoptive parents. Previously, a couple would adopt a child if they were unable to bear one. However, in today's times, the ideas and views towards adoption have changed. Every couple may have their own reasons for adoption, but the most common reasons could be -

• Childless couple
• Parents who love children
• Single parents who desire to enjoy parenthood
• Parents who want to contribute to the society
• Parents who have genetic diseases and thus, choose to adopt

Financial state, single parent, a family without shelter or unwanted pregnancies are certain reasons as to why children are homeless and left for adoption. Children are innocent and bring a lot of joy and happiness into our lives. Yet, they are left to face the world all by themselves. They deserve love, affection, care, family and a home too. They too have the right to lead a good and secure life. Let's take a step forward and know how to adopt a child.

The process of child adoption is slow and tends to get a little irksome. It's quite a big deal to adopt a child as it brings a lot of changes in the lives of adoptive parents and the child. The adoptive parents have to create the same relationship bond with the adopted child as they would have it with their biological child. So, before diving into the adoption process, find out whether you really want to adopt a child. Adopting a child is a lifetime commitment and therefore, this decision should be taken carefully. Many interested parents abandon the journey of adoption because of its complexities. Remember that child adoption is time-consuming and takes up all your energy. To make the adoption process easy, it is wise to study the process and create a plan to go about it. There are many options and procedures involved in the child adoption process. Couples who are interested in adopting a child must be aware of certain types of adoption to meet their needs.

Types of Adoption

Open Adoption
In this process, the birth parents and the adoptive parents can share their information with each other. It's a great way for adoptive children to know their biological parents. However, after the process of adoption is complete, both the birth and adoptive parents can choose to stay in contact with each other.

Semi-open Adoption
Here, the birth and adoptive parents meet and exchange information, which is initiated by the adoption institute. Once the child grows up, he has a choice to contact his biological parents and develop a relationship with them.

Semi-closed Adoption
This is a great way for the biological parents to maintain their privacy. They can contact the couple who are interested in adoption or choose not to remain in touch with adoptive parents at all.

Closed Adoption
In this adoption, the birth parents hand over their babies to an adoption agency. The parents who are willing to adopt the child or baby do not meet the biological parents but the medical information is often shared with the adoptive parents.

Independent Adoption
There is no role of any adoption agency in this particular adoption. This process of adoption takes place very rarely and happens when the biological parents and the adoptive parents know each other and make an agreement to adopt the child.

Another way of adoption is where the birth mother selects the family for a baby while she is pregnant. During this period, the birth mother might choose to bond with the family and get to know the parents better. In these cases, the birth mother is either unmarried, a single mother or it's an unwanted pregnancy and thus, she chooses to put the baby for adoption.

Adoption Process

A couple who is interested in adopting a child can always contact the orphanage or the social institutes, which initiate the process of adoption. Child adoption is a great contribution to the society and there are certain important steps that are considered to check eligibility of the parents to adopt.

Home and Family Check
The agency initiating adoption will assess the house in which the child will be spending his life. During the process of this step, a social worker observes the surroundings and interacts with the family to make sure that the child grows in a safer environment. So, a social worker conducts a thorough home and family study. If there is anything suspicious about the family, the parents do not become eligible to adopt and the procedure is immediately stopped.

Evaluation of the Adoptive Parents
The adoptive parents have to undergo certain evaluations to check if they are capable of bringing up a child. Every family is not perfect but, certain issues might reveal that the parents are not capable of raising the child. These measures are important to prevent the children from any future harm or dangers.

Training on Parenting
Though the parents are excited about getting a new child at home, they still have to be counseled and trained as they have to nurture the child all their life. When a child is growing up, he will begin to learn many new things and would someday want to know about the biological parents. Therefore, the adoptive parents need to be trained and prepared prior to facing such situations with their adopted child.

Court Validation
After the parents clear the previous steps, they have to go through the last step of court validation. In this step, the court finalizes the adoption wherein the biological parents have to agree on giving up the responsibility of their child completely. The child is then placed into the new home under the supervision of a social worker for around 6 months.

After learning about adoption and its process, are you wondering how much does it cost to adopt a child? The adoption cost varies as it depends on various factors. Adopting a child within one's country might be cheaper than adopting internationally. In case you are adopting a child from a private agency, then the adoption might cost from $5,000 to $40,000 or it might be even more depending on the services provided by these agencies. For international adoptions, the price may range from $7,000 to $30,000.

Adoption is a great deed as it gives a chance to children to lead a better and secure life. But, before taking a step towards adoption, it is essential for the parents to be familiar with all the factors regarding how to adopt a child and must consult a lawyer for right guidance.