Open Adoption

Remember when adoption used to be something that wasn't discussed? Was a taboo topic for children? Some families didn't discuss the fact that a child was adopted and in many cases didn't know a thing about the birth parents because the child came from an orphanage.


Well, times have mercifully changed! We are pursuing an open adoption through American Adoptions. (That's the agency we selected after an extensive search, including visits to CA and KS, for what felt right.) That means that we will have the opportunity to develop a relationship with the birth parents before, during and after the placement of their child with us.


Of course, all parties have to agree to the commitment for contact.


"So how does it work?" you ask.


All agencies require the completion of a home study which is a process in which the adoptive family's background and home are inspected by a licensed social worker in their community.


They review their finances, their employment, their home's safety and cleanliness (thank God they don't inspect your organizational skills!), interview the couple and seek references for their characters. The social worker's report is called a home study and it is submitted to the court in the adoptive family's jurisdiction.


The adoption agency works with home study-ready couples to create a profile that reflects a snapshot of your lives, produces a video about them, and markets their profile to prospective birth parents considering adoption.


Our agency works nationally to match families, making their average wait time a bit shorter than smaller, local agencies that match within a single community.


So the "average" wait time is about 3-9 months after activation to be matched and 1-3 months after a match for placement. Of course, every situation is unique... some people wait years to be matched and others wait weeks. It's just a matter of luck, timing and prayer that their birth mother finds them.


"Matched" is when the adoptive family is selected by a birth mother - picked as the family with whom she wishes to place her child. "Placement" is the point after birth when the birth mother relinquishes her parental rights and custody is granted to the adoptive parents.


So we became activated on September 17th.  . . . and the clock began ticking!