Looking for someone to adopt your baby can give your child a beautiful family, and the family you choose will have a lifetime impact on you and your child. Our adoption specialists can help you find the best family when you fill out our form.
Here’s what we do to screen families, and what you can do to find a family that will be the best fit possible:
Adoptive Family Screening
Families who want to start the adoption process must go through several steps before they will ever be shown to you on our website. Many of these are part of the home study, which you can read more about here. Here are some of the steps that they take before you see them listed on our website.
Discussing Adoption
If a family is interested in adoption, most of the time they will take time to research it, think about it, and when they are serious about it, they reach out to our staff.
Our adoptive family coordinators are experienced with talking families through this decision, and sharing important parts of the process that they will need to know to begin an adoption. During these conversations, some families choose not to pursue adoption, and the ones who are ready will begin the next steps.
Personal History
When a family is ready, they will provide a history of their family and background to their adoptive family coordinators, who will help them understand the adoption process further and begin preparing for the process.
Documentation
The family will also be filling out a lot of paperwork and providing documents that are necessary to confirm important preparation for a child. Things like birth certificates, home deeds, proof of employment, tax records, proof of income, and other vital information will be provided for everyone in the home. This allows our adoption specialists to verify the information for the family and assure that they are prepared for adoption.
Home Preparation
The family will also prepare their home for a child. While every family is different, each family must pass a home inspection, so families will often undergo renovations and make sure their home is up to code and safe for a child before their home visit.
Background Check
While families are collecting documentation and preparing for their home visits, each member of the household will also undergo a background check, and any important background information will undergo scrutiny from the social worker who is assigned to their home visit before they are given a pass or fail for their home study.
Home Visit
The home visit takes the preparation from idea to reality. During the home visit, a trained social work professional will visit and check for physical safety within the home, interview each member of the household, and ultimately make the decision of whether the family is safe and prepared to bring a new child into their home.
Profile Creation
In addition to the screening that is done during this time, families will also create a profile to help you learn more about them—this can mean writing letters to you, writing about their family, giving a list of favorites, and providing pictures of their family.
Video Profile Creation
The last step is often the video profile that families create—in this, they will be tasked with filming home video that will help you learn more about them. These videos can help you get a better understanding of where they live, what they do, who their family is, and what you can expect from them as a family. Family profile videos are often the reason why women choose an adoptive family because it gives an up-close and personal view of what your child could experience with the family that you choose for them.
Why We Screen Families
Mothers who choose adoption want the best for their child—a safe and loving family that will support them throughout their life. Many women come to us saying things like:
“I’m looking for someone to adopt my baby who has a safe and stable home with two parents.”
“I am looking for someone to adopt my baby who will love them just as much as I do.”
“I am looking for someone to adopt my unborn baby who has their career established and will be able to save for college.”
Our adoption specialists have years of experience behind them, which means we have heard the many reasons why women choose adoption, and our screening is meant to cover all of the basics that birth parents are commonly looking for in families.
What to Look for in Adoptive Families
Beyond the basics, you can look for whatever you think is best for your child. Someone from the city or country, a family with pets or siblings, someone who shares your hobbies or lives in a great neighborhood, etc. Many mothers who choose adoption have a gut feeling of who will be a great fit for their child. You can view video profiles here, or get help finding a great family when you fill out our simple form.
