Private Adoption
What is Private Adoption and what’s the difference between Private, International and Foster Adoption? Having adopted 6 children, Ryun knows a lot about the adoption process. Here are some adoption facts to help you along your journey to adopt a child and become a forever family.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Hello I’m Ryun Hovind, and in our final video for the TYPES OF ADOPTION series, I will discuss What is Private Adoption? Our experience with private adoption is with our oldest daughter. Private adoption is also referred to as domestic adoption. There are several differences between private, foster, and international adoption, but the biggest would be… Infants. Most private adoptions involve babies.
With private adoption you have two options. Agency vs. Independent. Independent adoption occurs when the prospective parent and birth mother connect and form an agreement using an adoption lawyer, without use an agency, such as in our case. But in most cases potential adoptive parents are connected with birth mothers through an adoption agency. Similar to other types of adoption you must fill out a lot of forms, be interviewed, and have a home study.
Your adoption worker will advise you on how to write your adoption profile. This includes choosing the right picture to represent you and what you should include in your “Dear Birth Mom” letter. After the file is complete, your profile is then made available to birth mothers who make the choice of which family they feel is the best match to raise their child.
One of the benefits of private adoption is more information such as background details on birth parents. Often prospective parents will get to meet with the birth mother and in some cases even be present at the birth of their child. During the matching process the adoptive parent and birth parent will decide if they wish to have a closed adoption with no contact, or an open adoption. In open adoption both parties agree on the amount of contact desired. This can range from letters, to photos and sometimes even visits. Your adoption worker will help you to better understand your options.
The cost for domestic adoption depends on several factors including whether or not it is an agency or an independent adoption. It will also depend on if you choose to assist the birth mother in allowable expenses, such as health care. This can make the cost range from $5,000 to $40,000. You can ask your adoption worker about the growing number of resources to help offset your adoption expenses.
Arguably the primary risk with private adoption is the birth mother’s right to change her mind after the child is born. This varies by state, but is usually up to 30 days after giving birth. Another risk is the improper termination of parental rights for the birth father. We discuss this more in our video What is TPR? If proper paternity isn’t established, the birth father then has the right to contest the adoption even after it is finalized. This is rare. But it has happened, so be sure that all parties involved follow proper protocol.
Most parents who choose private adoption feel that the rewards outweigh the risks and they get to enjoy the immediate bonding with their newborn infant. Believe me it’s best to talk to someone who’s gone through the experience. You can ask your agency to be connected with adoptive parents who can share their story with you. To connect with families online please follow Adoptive Legacy on Twitter and Facebook. If you would like to watch more videos about the adoption process, subscribe to our youtube channel.
When deciding which type of adoption is best for you, it’s good to weigh all of your options. You might be like us and go with more than one type. There’s no one that is better than another and all roads lead to forming forever families.
Related posts:
- International Adoption What is International Adoption? In today’s video Ryun gives a broad overview...
- What Is Foster Adoption In today’s video “What is Foster Adoption” Ryun explains the foster adoption process....
- Considering Adoption Are you considering adoption? MeLisa Lomelino from Adoptive Legacy discusses some points...
Filed in: New To Adoption • Video
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There is also agency assisted (or agency identified) adoption. It is a hybrid of an agency and independent adoption. In other words, the birth mother and adoptive family connect and then an agency is brought in to do the social work.
Hi Michelle. MeLisa was just telling me about your story yesterday. Your Facebook comments on our Transracial Adoption video really mean a lot coming from you… the expert. Thanks again for adding an important distinction about “agency assisted or agency identified” adoptions. Yes, we are familiar with these. In-fact MeLisa just helped to connect a birth mom with a prospective adoptive family last week. The birth mom was already working with an agency. It was a unique situation which is why I’m sure “agency assisted” was created.
Our types of adoption video series are only a broad overview. We know the deeper prospective adoptive families go they’ll learn there are many nuances when adopting. Thanks for being a valuable resource to us and our viewers.