Trying to figure out the San Mateo adoption process can feel a little daunting when most of the guides you’ll find online are for the general California adoption process. When you’re trying to adopt a child or you need to learn how to place a child for adoption in San Mateo, Calif., you need information, resources and professionals that are specific to the Bay Area.

That’s why we compiled this list of resources to help you find what you need and begin the adoption process in San Mateo with less stress:

San Mateo Adoption Agencies

As one of the leading full-service national agencies, American Adoptions is uniquely equipped to help prospective birth and adoptive parents throughout their journeys. We’ve been helping people throughout California and the U.S. for more than 25 years, and we’d be honored to guide you through this life-changing experience.

Our size and scope allows us to offer more services to pregnant women and hopeful parents than the average local adoption agency in San Mateo. Some of those services include:

• 24/7 adoption counseling and support for pregnant women and prospective birth parents
• Financial risk-sharing to protect adoptive families in the event of an adoption disruption
• Access to waiting adoptive families from all different backgrounds, located all across the country, to give prospective birth parents a greater chance of finding the perfect one for their baby
• Minimal wait times for hopeful adoptive parents
• And more

We also have local offices in California, to ensure that you receive the personalized care and attention that you deserve, with the added benefits of national reach. Our Fresno office is three hours away from San Mateo, at:

7257 N. Maple Ave. Suite 101
Fresno, CA 93720

There are also nearby options for smaller, regional adoption agencies in San Mateo and the surrounding area. The nearest, Adoption Connection, could also help you with a private domestic infant adoption in San Mateo. We always encourage you to carefully research and compare your options when choosing an adoption professional — this is one of the most important experiences in your life, and you deserve the best care during that time and beyond.

Want to learn more about how American Adoptions can help with your private domestic infant adoption in San Mateo? Request free information online with no obligation. Our social workers will be standing by to answer any questions you may have.

San Mateo Adoption Attorneys

Whether you’re adopting a child or placing a baby for adoption, you’ll always need to work with an experienced San Mateo adoption attorney in order to complete the necessary legal steps.

For those who aren’t working with American Adoptions for placement services, you’ll likely want to reach out to a local lawyer like one of the nearby professionals listed below. However, if you are partnering with American Adoptions, we’ll refer you to local attorneys we know and trust, so you don’t have to search and coordinate with a lawyer on your own.

San Mateo-area attorneys who may be able to help include:

• Seeley Family Law Practice
• Moradi Saslaw
• Viola Law Firm
• Erlandson Family Law
• Hanson Crawford Crum Family Law Group LLP
• Fox, Shjeflo & Babu LLP
• Laughlin Legal, PC
• The Law Office of John Iaccarino
• Holsinger Law Office
• Joseph R. Zoucha, Attorney & Counselor at Law
• Law Office of Crystal M. Long
• Law Office of Shelley A. Gordon
• The Law Offices of John A. Guthrie
• Roz Bateman Smith, Attorney at Law
• Bartholomew & Wasznicky LLP

San Mateo Home Study Providers

Any time a San Mateo family embarks on the process of adopting a child, they’ll need to be cleared through the California home study process. The home study is an important assessment of a family’s physical, financial, emotional, and mental readiness for welcoming a child through adoption. It helps ensure that children are placed into safe and loving homes.

As a licensed home study provider in California, American Adoptions has streamlined the home study process so that you can complete your home study with us faster and more efficiently than any other agency.                                                            

Follow this link to begin your home study and to learn more about the services we offer.

San Mateo Foster Care Professionals

Families who wish to foster or adopt a child through foster care will need to work with an appropriately licensed professional. American Adoption is only licensed to complete private domestic infant placements, so we’re unable to provide foster care services. However, we encourage families who want to pursue a foster care adoption in San Mateo to reach out to these nearby professionals to learn more about this amazing family-building path:

• County of San Mateo Human Services
• Family Connections Christian Adoptions
• Aspiranet
• Alternative Family Services
• Uplift Family Services
• A Better Way, Inc.

San Mateo International Adoption Agencies

International placements are on a consistent decline, but some families in the San Mateo area still hope to pursue this type of adoption. Again, you’ll need to work with a professional that is licensed to place children across national borders, so American Adoptions is unable to assist. You can however, contact the nearest international agencies for more information:

• Family Connections Christian Adoptions
• Adopt International
• Heartsent Adoptions

San Mateo Hospitals

If you’re pregnant and considering adoption in San Mateo, you’ll have a lot of choices to consider. One of which is deciding where you want to receive medical care before, during and after delivery. When you contact American Adoptions, your specialist will help you develop a personalized birth plan, which outlines these kinds of preferences.

Some of the nearby hospitals you might consider incorporating into that plan could be:

• Mills-Peninsula Family Birth Center
• California Pacific Medical Center
• Sutter Health's Palo Alto Medical Foundation - San Carlos Center
• Nightingale Birth Center

San Mateo Courts

After a San Mateo family has received placement of a new child, they’ll spend several months completing post-placement requirements and followups. Then, they’ll have a finalization hearing scheduled in San Mateo County court. This hearing is short and simple — the judge will issue a final decree of adoption and that will be the last legal step in the process of an adoption in San Mateo, Calif.

Visiting San Mateo

Before, during and after placement, most birth and adoptive families will spend some amount of time together as they get to know one another. So, for an adoption in San Mateo, it can be helpful to find some activities and points of interest to explore during your time here.

Be sure to check out:

• CuriOdyssey
• Coyote Point Drive
• San Mateo Central Park and Japanese Garden
• Pulgas Water Temple
• SFO Museum Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum and Library
• Lemos Farm

Questions about the San Mateo adoption process? Ready to get started? Contact our licensed social workers now to receive more information about adoption in San Mateo, California, and begin your journey whenever you’re ready.

Disclaimer
Information available through these links is the sole property of the companies and organizations listed therein. American Adoptions provides this information as a courtesy and is in no way responsible for its content or accuracy.