In her years of experience, Megan has found many clients have the same questions and concerns when it comes to adoption. Below are some questions she frequently receives.
We receive referrals from agencies, advertisers, women who have previously placed children with our adoptive families, doctors’ offices and pregnancy centers. Megan is also a member of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys which provides referrals as well.
We do not tell you when your profile is being shown, only when you are selected. Many times we don’t know if the expectant mother made her appointment with the referral source or whom she may have selected.
We maintain a relatively small list of waiting families in the hopes that the families who sign up with us will have a successful match quickly. We typically maintain a list of 15-20 families, although we do not cap our list. Not all families are waiting on the same situation. There are times we have to recruit families for situations that we do not have families willing to accept. Your profile will be shown for situations which match your preference of race and your budget. We do not show based on timing of joining our pool. The more open you are the more likely you are to be chosen.
The use of cigarettes and illegal drugs is common among expectant mothers who are making an adoption plan. Although it can happen, the use of alcohol is rarely reported by expectant mothers. We encourage all adoptive families to speak to a doctor about the effects of substance abuse prior to seeking a match with an expectant mother. Limiting your preferences to a situation with no substance abuse will increase the wait time for a hopeful adoptive family.
The total cost of an adoption varies due to the referral source, the needs of the expectant mother and other factors but most range from $25,000 – $50,000. The majority of adoption situations that we work to match are budgeted between $35,000 – $45,000 including finalization. Attorney fees are only a portion of this total amount and are often $4,500.00- $8,000.00. Attorney fees depend upon the details of your adoption.
If a family is in our adoptive couple pool and the budget for a situation is higher than the stated budget but the facts otherwise meet the family’s criteria, we will contact you for your permission to show your profile.
It is important that funds are readily available. Most situations will require some form of payment within 24-48 hours of the match.
Yes. You may state your preferences for the race of the child you hope to adopt. Please remember, the more restrictive you are regarding race of the child the fewer situations you will be presented for matching. In many situations the birth father’s race is in question and therefore the baby’s race is unknown. If you are only open to one race, you would not be shown in a situation where the birth father’s race is unknown. If you need assistance in this area, feel free to contact us. The more open you are, the more often your profile can be shown.
You may choose to be gender specific. However, gender specificity will significantly increase the time to match with an expectant mother.
The waiting time is largely dependent upon how open you are regarding race, budget and substance abuse. We have had families chosen the first week they were on our list and families who have waited several months. Most families have been chosen by an expectant mother within a year of joining our list, however, not all families choose to move forward with an expectant mother and therefore may not have a successful adoption within a year.
Again, the more open you are, the more likely you are to be chosen.
Although a home study is required to finalize an adoption, you do not need a completed home study in order to join our pool. We do strongly recommended you begin your home study process at the same time you join our matching pool. If you need assistance with finding a home study provider, please contact us.
Yes, we work with EVERYONE! The expectant mother chooses the family who will adopt her baby. We have seen an increase in the request for both single parents and same sex couples in the recent years.
Usually we will not have medical records regarding the expectant mother or pregnancy prior to a match. Most of the time the natural mother has not had medical care prior to making her adoption plan. We will match from the initial information we have received from the expectant mother or referral source. Once a match is made, we will work to obtain the medical records, if available, or get the expectant mother into the doctor.
Yes, of course! We find expectant mothers have a wide variety of wishes and hopes for the families that will care for their child.
If you are chosen, we will provide you all the available information we have regarding the expectant mother and her pregnancy. You then determine if you would like to proceed with matching with the expectant mother and adopting the child. After that decision, we will facilitate a phone call or meeting between you (adoptive family) and the expectant mother (and sometimes expectant father).
Moving forward with a call or meeting is a commitment to proceed with the adoption and not a time to further consider the option. That said, very rarely important information is learned after the match is made and ultimately it is the adoptive families decision at any time to proceed with an adoption plan.