Types of Domestic Adoptions

If you are a birthmother planning to give your child up for adoption, you are giving the greatest gift that it is possible to give. Nevertheless, there are many important practical decisions to make during this time. You are fortunate in that you have the ability to choose whether or not you would like to keep in contact with the child and the level of openness that you desire. For many years, this was usually not an option, but research shows that it can be beneficial not only for you and the adoptive parents but for the child as well.

There are different types of domestic adoptions available depending on who makes the arrangements and the contact between you and prospective adoptive parents. Adoption laws vary by state, so not all options may be available where you live. Nevertheless, you should understand all of them so that you can choose between adoption agencies that provide housing or working with an attorney or another option.

1. Agency Adoption

Private adoption agencies are administered by entities unrelated to the government. Many are faith-based, but there are secular private adoption agencies as well. Though not government entities themselves, adoption agencies are licensed by the state. They must comply with procedural standards or lose their licenses.

If you work with an adoption agency, you will likely have a role in choosing the birth family that will eventually adopt your child. The agency will collect profiles from prospective parents, and you will have the opportunity to review them. Depending on the level of openness you desire, you may get to meet the birth parents as well. After your baby’s birth, you will relinquish your parental rights to the agency, which will then complete the adoption.

2. Facilitated Adoptions

Facilitated adoptions are not available in all states because of the comparative lack of oversight over the process. A facilitator is someone who works for a fee to match you with prospective adoptive parents. You have options as to the level of openness that you desire.

3. Independent Adoptions

Like facilitated adoptions, independent adoptions are not available in all jurisdictions. In an independent adoption, you work with an attorney to formalize the adoption process. The attorney may help to bring you and prospective adoptive parents together, or you and the adoptive parents may identify one another without help and then hire an attorney to handle the legal process from that point on. In the former case, you may interact with the attorney in lieu of the adoptive parents, which may depend partly on the level of openness that you desire.