The joys of having a child and someone whom you can guide through all the good times and hard times in life is the ultimate gift. For biological parents, your child is an extension of your own being and easy to treat how you would expect yourself to be treated.
That is the core principle of love and the building blocks for any parent’s biological or adoptive relationship. Many women are unable to bear children and may even be living alone after their biological age to reproduce safely has passed.
It is a maternal instinct from a young age for all females to want a child of their own as evinced by the ever-popular baby dolls and childhood games played. It is only natural to seek fulfillment of this void through infant adoption.
Demystifying the Adoption Process
When it comes to adoption, there is a lot of confusion and red-tape that leads many away from the foster care adoption program. Long waiting lists, the impersonal nature of the process, and bureaucracies can frustrate individuals.
It is not as simple as finding a family that is unable to care for their child and picking up the infant from the hospital. In fact, each state has its own arcane laws which can make the hunt for particular information stressful.
However, there is enough consistency between the state processes to publish some guidelines. Please peruse the fundamental information below before deciding whether you want to adopt a foster child.
Demand for Adopted Children
Because there is a demand for foreign children in adoption, many assume that it must be impossible to adopt a child in the US.
The truth is that roughly 23,000 children spend their lives in foster care and are never adopted. Once they reach the age of 18, in the worst case scenarios, they become prey for sex trafficking mafias or are likely to fall into seedy situations that land them in prison.
Half of the young women who outgrow foster care bear children who are then cycled into the program. This means that there are always children who need direction and a kind heart to help them develop quality lives in our capitalist system.
Because it takes an investment of capital and a proper education to make money and build economic stability, foster kids simply fall into the cracks of the system from neglect if no one wants them.
Myths About the Adoption Process
Many believe that the laws are too complicated and that you need a lawyer to navigate the maze of procedures. The truth is that the majority of states do not require prospective parents to hire a lawyer. Many, nevertheless, choose to hire an attorney to streamline the process.
A lot of people believe that the adoption process is expensive. In fact, there is usually little to no cost involved. Because the foster care program is anxious to solve the socio-economic burden placed on taxpayers when foster kids are incarcerated or have children that wind up in foster care, the state may pay a prospective family over $700 a month to care for them if they qualify for “special needs” status.
People who choose a private adoption agency may incur some costs that are often reimbursed by the federal adoption tax credit.
Special needs status is usually easy to obtain if the child is over 5-years of age, from a minority ethnicity, with some sort of disability or ongoing health issues, or even if they have siblings in the adoption system. This support may continue up to the age of 22.
Prospective parents who adopt can provide their child with the opportunity to live a fulfilling and normal life.
The Length of Time to Complete the Process
It takes nine months for an infant to be born. It is easy to wait 9-18 months while you undergo some [educational] labor of your own. This is the amount of time it takes to complete the inquiry, orientation, home education, and good-parenting preparation classes. The classes can take as long as 30 hours, but spread out over several weeks.
You are now ready to begin the infant adoption process and can also adopt a foster child from another state if you comply with the laws of both.
Heather Hernandez wrote this article on behalf of the National Adoption Foundation, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to providing financial support for adoptive families in order to assist them in the successful adoption of children. They are committed to improving each child’s chance of becoming part of a loving family. The Foundation’s programs are available to any family whether they are adopting a child domestically, abroad or from foster care.
