For many prospective adoptive parents, “the choice” of where and how to adopt is the most difficult part. Answers to three common questions when deciding if transracial adoption is right for your family.
Adopting Internationally: The Basics
If this is your first adoption, choose a country with a long-standing, stable adoption process, and work with an agency licensed by the U.S. and by the sending country. International adoption can be complicated enough; don’t add extra uncertainty to the process.
Parent-to-Parent: Deciding to Adopt
When did you know adoption was in your future? AF readers reflect.
The Federal Adoption Tax Credit
There’s no way around it — expanding your family is expensive. Can the federal adoption tax credit help?
Birth Fathers’ Rights: A Legal Guide
Your child’s birth father is an important part of your child’s adoption story, and has legal rights in relation to the adoption.
Webinar Replay – “Imagining Your Future Child”
View the replay of the webinar “Imagining Your Future Child,” with Lauren Jiang, LMSW, to learn how to decide on the age, racial identity, and medical history of the child you will be best equipped to adopt and parent.
“How I Feel About Using Donor Eggs”
I have talked with many people who have adopted or used donor eggs or sperm, and they all say the same thing: “It doesn’t matter at all! This is our child one thousand percent.”
Your Step-By-Step Guide to Foster Care Adoption
There are many misconceptions about adopting from foster care. Are children juvenile delinquents? Is it free? Two legal experts separate fact from fiction.
“A Fairy-Tale Beginning, Indeed”
When our own fertility treatment finally failed, Michael said, “There will always be a part of us that wishes that we had met when were younger and could have had children naturally together.” At the time, I thought I would always feel that way…
“My 10-Year-Old Nephew’s Adoption Day”
Seventeen of us crowded into the court as witnesses to my nephew’s finalization, bringing an end to 10 years spent in foster care—10 years of waiting for this day.
“Becoming Parents Through Surrogacy”
Our path to family had its share of twists and turns. That was how we landed at Plan J, also known as becoming parents through Indian surrogacy.
Explaining Donor Conception in Assisted Reproduction
Experts offer advice on how to talk to your child about donor conception.
Webinar Replay – Adoption Paperwork
View the replay of the webinar “Adoption Paperwork, Explained,” with Ketiwe Boahene, to learn about all the documentation required for your adoption home study, why you need it, and how to obtain it.
ART: The Legal Perspective
An attorney explains what laws apply when you build your family through assisted reproduction.
Should I Adopt a Child with “Special Needs”?
Peg Studaker, supervisor of the Waiting International Child Program at Children’s Home Society and Family Services, in Minnesota, says: “Parenting children with special needs should be a family’s first choice. Adopting a special-needs child should never be a second choice because the family could not get the child they really wanted to parent.”
Choosing Which Age Group to Adopt
For lots of adoptive parents, the hardest part of the process is the “choice” — particularly what age they should adopt.
“Just Adopt”
When I was struggling with infertility, friends and family mistakenly said insensitive things. Now that I’m an adoptive parent, I’m more careful with my words.
Selecting Gender in Adoption
What prospective adoptive parents need to know if having a boy or a girl is important to them.
Expectant and Birth Parent Rights
Openness in adoption should begin long before the expectant mother and adoptive family navigate ongoing contact. An agency and an attorney discuss best practices for working with prospective birth parents.
“From Heartbreak to Hope”
When our first adoption match fell through, we were devastated.