Domestic or International Adoption?
Many of our families want to know if a domestic adoption or an international adoption is the best path to build their family. We can help with either one and will be happy to answer all of your questions in detail.
If you feel drawn to infant adoption and want to be parents of a newborn infant sooner rather than later, a domestic adoption is probably the best route to parenthood. Most domestic adoptions take place in less than one year, and often our families are surprised at how quickly their adoption happens.
Another benefit to a domestic adoption is you will receive health and social history information on your baby’s biological parents, and you will also receive information on your baby’s’ prenatal care. It is also relatively easy to drive to the hospital or hop on a plane to meet and take your baby home from the hospital. If you adopt outside of Florida, the Interstate Compact process usually takes ten days or less. If you adopt in Florida, you can go right home from the hospital after placement.
If you are open to an older child who has been exposed to trauma such as abuse or neglect, we can help you adopt through the dependency or foster care system. Once again, you will receive all background information on the child and their social and medical history. You will get to meet the child and spend time with him or her before moving forward with your adoption. Most of the children in our foster care system are older or part of a sibling group. It is rare to adopt a toddler or infant from the foster care system unless you have been that child’s foster family.
If you feel called to adopt a child who is a little older and is a true orphan, international adoption might be a great fit for you. The international adoption timeframe is usually 18 months to three years. Travel times to adopt children internationally range from two weeks to several months and you might be required to travel twice. Each country has a different requirement.
To visit the US Department of State’s website and learn about the different countries that place children for adoption in the United States, click here:
Written by Debra Hewitt, Adoptive Mama and Founder
