If you are considering adoption in Kansas, it’s likely because of the life-changing opportunities it can provide everyone involved in the adoption.

Whether you’re a birth mother considering placing your baby for adoption in Kansas, or a hopeful adoptive family, you probably have a lot of questions. This process can quickly seem complicated or overwhelming, but don’t worry, we’re here to help.

This complete guide to the adoption process in Kansas will give you the information you need to feel confident in your adoption decision and to take your next steps toward a successful placement. If you’d like to learn more about adopting a baby in Kansas with American Adoptions, you can get free information at any time to get started. 

Although this guide primarily focuses on the adoption process for families hoping to adopt, prospective birth mothers may find this information useful as well. However, if you are a birth mother looking for information on how to place your baby for adoption, you can click this link to learn more or call 1-800-ADOPTION at any time, to speak with an adoption specialist.

The Adoption Process: How to Adopt a Baby in Kansas

If you are considering adoption in Kansas, it is important to know that every adoption journey is unique, and that there are many different legal, emotional and social factors at play. But, when you work with American Adoptions, your adoption professional will be there to guide you through it all.

With over 25 years of experience as one of the largest national domestic infant adoption agencies in the United States, American Adoptions has helped thousands of birth mothers and families complete successful adoptions. Our staff is comprised of licensed specialists, some of whom are adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents.

Our staff members have been directly involved with adoption in their personal lives and their profession, which means we can relate with you on not only a professional level, but emotionally as well. We truly understand the thoughts and feelings you are experiencing. You can experience the best version of your adoption journey with American Adoptions because this level of compassion and understanding is unmatched throughout other adoption agencies.

Here are the six steps of how to adopt a child in Kansas through American Adoptions:

Step 1: Decide If You’re Fully Committed to Adoption

Adoption is often challenging, but it is always worth it. When you’re an adoptive family, the adoption process is an investment of your time, finances and emotions. Before you begin adopting in Kansas, you’ll need to be sure that this is something that you’re ready to pursue.

Many couples interested in learning how to adopt a child in Kansas have struggled with infertility, miscarriages, or the loss of a child. Before you consider the Kansas adoption process, it’s imperative that you’ve allowed yourself to grieve such a loss if this has been a part of your story.

In early conversations with your American Adoptions specialist, you’ll examine your motivations for adopting a child and your commitment to adoption. If you ultimately decide that adoption is right for you, you’ll need to be able commit fully to adoption as your primary desire — not as a backup plan.

Step 2: Choose How You Want to Adopt a Child in KS

While American Adoptions specializes in the domestic adoption of infants across the U.S., there are many ways to adopt Kansas kids. The most common types of adoption include:

Domestic Infant Adoption

Domestic infant adoptions, sometimes also called private adoptions, are adoptions of infants that occur within the U.S. In this type of adoption process, a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy chooses to place her baby with a waiting adoptive couple. Most times, adoptive parents are able to meet their baby and take them home from the hospital. The child’s birth and adoptive parents usually have ongoing contact through an open adoption.

Who Should Choose This Type of Adoption: Hopeful Parents looking for greater financial protection, a shorter wait time and the ability to adopt an infant born in the United States.

Foster Care Adoption

Although the primary goal of the foster care system is to reunite children with their biological families, about 25 percent of kids who are removed from their homes due to things like abuse or neglect will eventually become eligible for adoption from KS foster care. There is much more uncertainty involved with foster care and foster care adoption, but the life-changing outcome is still the ultimate goal.

American Adoptions does not provide many foster care adoption services, although we can help you with your Kansas home study for a foster care adoption. You can learn more about foster care and adoption in Kansas here.

Who Should Choose This Type of Adoption: People who intend to adopt Kansas kids older than newborns, from 1-year-olds to teens; people who are comfortable adopting children who are older, are part of a sibling group or have certain special needs.

International Adoption

International adoptions can involve children of any age, from toddlers to teenagers. Depending on the country you intend to adopt from, the requirements to adopt and the adoption process can be very different. Regulations may be more lax in some countries, so adoptive families should choose an experienced and reputable international adoption agency to prevent fraud or abuse.

International adoptions are not as common today as they were a decade ago; however, with research, international adoption can be an option for your family. American Adoptions does not facilitate international adoptions, but you can read more about international adoption in Kansas here.

Who Should Choose This Type of Adoption: People who wish to adopt a child from another culture or ethnicity and those who are comfortable adopting children older than newborns, as well as people who are prepared to provide their child with lifelong role models of their own race and connections to their cultural and ethnic heritage.

If you want to adopt a child in Kansas, but you haven’t decided exactly how you want to adopt, it’s important to take the time to research all of your options first. The costs, process, requirements and steps involved to adopt Kansas kids will vary depending on which you choose. You can learn more about the requirements to adopt in Kansas here.

Request free information today to speak with an adoption professional. They will be more than happy to walk you through the details of domestic infant adoption with American Adoptions or point you in the right direction of resources who can help with foster or international adoptions.

Step 3: Choose Your Adoption Professional

Deciding who you want to be your guide throughout the process to adopt KS kids might be the most important decision you make. It’ll impact everything that follows, including the ultimate success of your adoption. Adoption professionals should never be compared solely by price, because they offer vastly different services and levels of safety, support and expertise.

Some families believe that by completing the Kansas adoption process independently (without the use of an agency), they can save some money and circumvent certain requirements. However, independent adoption often leaves families at greater risk for fraud and financial loss, gives them no access to professional services that both the adoptive family and the birth family greatly benefit from, such as counseling, and in the long run, can end up costing more than choosing a professional.

It’s highly recommended that all families work with an adoption professional, especially a licensed adoption agency like American Adoptions

The most common types of adoption professionals include:

• National adoption agencies: licensed organizations, often regulated by multiple state licensing authorities, that work with prospective birth and adoptive families across the country. National adoption agencies are regularly reviewed by multiple licensing authorities to ensure they’re always providing the best services. National adoption agencies like American Adoptions offer shorter wait times, lower financial risks and so much more.

• Local adoption agencies: state-licensed and regulated organizations, usually with a small staff, that serve a limited geographic area. Local and regional agencies typically work only with adoptive families and birth families that reside within the immediate area, which creates longer wait times but may allow for more face-to-face interactions with staff.

• Adoption attorneys and law firms: Kansas attorneys (or groups of attorneys) who are often well-versed in many types of adoption. These professionals typically only provide the legal services needed in adoption, and may work in conjunction with reputable adoption agencies to find adoption opportunities and provide a greater range of services.

• Adoption facilitators: unlicensed, unregulated people or organizations that typically only provide matching services. While some facilitators may seem less expensive and easier to use than the standard Kansas adoption agency, they’re illegal in the state of Kansas and many other states because of their predatory tactics.

Choosing American Adoptions as your adoption agency for a domestic adoption in Kansas, means you only have to work with one professional, rather than juggling multiple professionals or attempting to handle the entire process yourself. Our agency is licensed in Kansas, so we are able to provide all services needed throughout your adoption, with the scope of a national agency, but the personal feel of a local agency. We provide services such as:

• 24/7 professional counseling and support to pregnant women, birth and adoptive parents

• Your own appointed specialist

• Financial protection for adoptive families in the event of an adoption disruption

• Honest and accurate wait times for adoptive families

• So much more

Our national scope connects birth mothers and adoptive families all over the United States. This increases the chances of a “match” and provides more opportunities for birth mothers to find an adoptive family. . But don’t just take it from us read testimonials from adoptive families and birth mother who have used our services for successful adoptions in Kansas.

To learn more about the services we offer and how it can benefit you during your Kansas adoption process, get your free information today.

Step 4: Complete Preliminary Steps and Requirements

When you work with American Adoptions, the process to adopt Kansas kids involves first determining your preferences through what’s called an Adoption Planning Questionnaire (APQ).This allows your profile to be shown to expectant mothers who have the same kind of dream for their adoption.

During this stage of the process, you’ll also need to complete several other steps to become an active waiting family, including:

• Filling out adoption paperwork

• Completing your Kansas adoption home study

• Taking relevant training courses on becoming an adoptive parent in the state of Kansas

• Creating your adoption profile, which is viewed by pregnant women considering adoption

Birth mothers can rest easy know that adoptive families are screened and must complete an approved home study before being allowed to adopt a child in Kansas. Read more about the process here.

The process for adoption in Kansas can feel overwhelming, but remember that your adoption specialist will be there to guide you through it all — and each item you check off the list brings you one step closer to bringing your baby home!

Step 5: Wait for an Adoption Opportunity

Once you complete all the necessary steps and requirements, you will officially be an active family with American Adoptions. This means your adoptive profile can be shown to prospective birth mothers, and you could be chosen for an adoption opportunity at any time.

Birth mothers, we understand that finding the best adoptive family for your baby is both exciting and nerve racking. Follow this link to read more about the process or you can also view adoptive family profiles here!

Most hopeful adoptive parents are concerned about how long the Kansas child adoption process will take. In general, our wait time is an average of 12 months. Much of that wait time is determined by how open you are to different types of adoption situations.

Once you’ve entered into an adoption opportunity with an expectant mother, you will be able to get to know more about her and her baby through pre-placement phone calls, emails, or whatever forms of contact both parties are most comfortable with.

In most cases, the prospective birth mother will be pregnant when she chooses you as her baby’s adoptive parents, and you will be notified when she goes into labor and it is time to travel to the hospital. There are unique situations that your adoption specialist will inform you about as well.

According to Kansas adoption consent law birth mothers have 12 hours following the birth of the baby to physically, mentally and emotionally recover from the delivery, before being allowed to sign any adoption paperwork. If the birth parents sign their consent, the child is placed in your care and they voluntarily terminate their parental rights.

Step 6: Finalize Your Kansas Adoption

If your adoption takes place outside of Kansas, then you’ll need to adhere to the travel guidelines set forth by the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) for adoption procedures in Kansas. This may require you to stay in your baby’s birth state for a few weeks. Your adoption attorney will notify you when you’ve been approved to return to Kansas with your child.

After placement, your Kansas adoption home study professional will return for regular post-placement in-home visits to check up on the child and to see how you’re all adjusting. Once these post-placement requirements have been met, usually around six months after placement, you’ll appear in court with your attorney (and sometimes the birth family) to finalize the adoption. This is where the judge will review and finalize the adoption and grant you full parental rights.

Read more about how to finalize your adoption in Kansas here.

Step 7: Adjust to Post-Placement Life

For the adoptive family, post-placement life is about nurturing your child’s adopted roots as they grow. This can mean reading age-appropriate stories together about adoption, re-telling their story of how they came to your family, maintaining communications with their birth family and more.

It’s always important that your child understands that adoption is a celebrated part of their history and that no questions are off-limits. Maintaining a level of communication with your child’s birth parents is important to help your child develop a strong sense of identity and to give the birth family peace of mind. Exchanging photos, letters, phone calls, emails or arranging occasional visits can all be great ways to stay in touch as your child grows up.

If you are a birth mother wondering what kind of impact placing your child may have on you emotionally, click here to learn more about support groups and other means of healing.

For more information on how to begin the adoption process in Kansas, or any other adoption related questions, contact us online to get more information about how to become an adoptive parent in Kansas.

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.