Best Apps for Adoptive Parents

Pre-Adoption Apps

Evernote
iOS, Free; Android, Free
Is keeping track of all of the home study paperwork and other steps in the process making you feel like you need a personal assistant? Evernote can keep you from losing track of reminders, resources, and important documents.

It captures text, photo, and audio notes across several devices. Categorize them as “home study,” “travel plans,” or “expectant parent information” and you can find them in a snap. After you adopt, continue using it to track post-adoption paperwork and milestones.

Waze
iOS, Free; Android, Free
Traveling last-minute to another state—or country!—to meet your child, then counting the days until you can return home, causes enough anxiety. Waze can help you plan the best route, then alert you about traffic, accidents—even cops and potholes—so you can save yourself from worrying about getting lost or pulled over along the way.

Google Translate
iOS, Free; Android, Free
If you’re travelling internationally, Google translate can make the difference between stilted miming and having a real-time conversation with orphanage workers or birth or foster family in 90 different languages.

Translate using talk-to-text, instant-photo translation, or drawing words with your finger. No global data plan? Download the language pack you’ll need before you go, and save special translations for reference without costly roaming charges or overages.

I’m Expecting
iOS, Free; Android, Free
The I’m Expecting app can help prospective adoptive parents to follow along after you’ve been matched with an expectant mother. Each weekly update includes a quick comparison of the fetus’s size and weight to a common fruit or vegetable, as well as a video and a detailed description of the baby’s development. You’ll also gain insight into the physical changes the expectant mother is experiencing.

Post-Adoption Apps

Tody’s Adoption Babybook
iOS, Free; Android, Free
Tody’s Adoption Babybook is a customizable digital scrapbook that was created by an adoptee. Through questions about your child’s first home, social worker, the adoption process, and your family’s first moments together, the completed story can be a powerful tool to help you talk about adoption with your child. You can also export the “pages” to print a complete book.

Doctor on Demand
iOS, Free; Android, Free
You’ve already had to cart your child into the doctor’s office for immunizations and a post-adoption checkup. Then, just when you’re settling in for a few uninterrupted days of bonding at home, a case of the sniffles strikes.

The thought of packing everyone up and heading to the clinic—and exposing your child to even more germs in the waiting room—seems exhausting. With Doctors on Demand, you can video-chat with a board-certified physician in your state from the comfort of home. Each virtual visit is $40, often the same or less than the cost of a copay.

Cluster
iOS, Free; Android, Free
Cluster lets you privately share photos and videos with groups you’ve created, so it’s perfect for families in open adoptions who want to avoid traditional social media like Facebook or Instagram. Your albums can only be viewed by people you invite, so you can maintain separate groups for, say, your child’s birth mother’s and birth father’s relatives. You’ll also receive notifications when group members have seen what you’ve shared.

Baby Connect
iOS, $4.99; Android, $4.99
This app provides one place to track all of your child’s needs—feeding, diaper change, sleep, mood, activities, medicines—and share it with any other caretakers. Several users can be authorized for each baby to seamlessly include your partner, birth family, babysitter, or grandparents who help out with care. Use the daily or weekly averages so you can provide precise information at doctor appointments, or if you need to report to a foster child’s caseworker. The app records all the information in a “diary,” so you can use it to fill out a baby book or just reminisce as your child grows.

Cozi Family Organizer
iOS, Free; Android, Free
Your life is undoubtedly busier than before you brought your child home. Cozi can help keep your life in order with a calendar, shopping list, and to-do list everyone can access.

Have a visit with a birth parent planned? Email an agenda to any family member. Remembered that you needed macaroni for a craft project? Add it to your partner’s shopping list. Store favorite recipes, and use the family journal to log special moments when you’re all together, or apart.

Share Your Reviews and Recommendations Have you used any of these apps? Are there others you’d recommend? Let fellow readers know by posting a comment below.