If you’re thinking about adopting a baby in Nevada, you’ve probably got a lot on your mind. There are lots of factors to consider when deciding to grow your family, and we believe that understanding how the adoption process works are important as you mull over this decision.

We encourage you to fill out this free online form or call 1-800-ADOPTION to connect with one of our experienced adoption professionals to get more information.

Until then, if you’re considering pursuing a baby adoption in Nevada, you can expect it to go something like this:

Step 1: Decide to adopt a baby.

Making the decision to pursue a Nevada infant adoption is no small feat. Frequently, this is a choice a couple arrives at after a long struggle with infertility. If this is the case for you, it’s important that everyone has fully grieved that loss and committed to adoption. Grieving infertility is more difficult for some than others, and that’s completely okay.

However, it’s important that you fully transition to adoption before beginning the process. Only when you accept that your child will not be coming to you biologically and become equally as excited about adoption should you begin looking to adopt a baby in Nevada. This child deserves your full excitement and attention, just as you would give to one you conceived yourselves.

Step 2: Choose a professional to help you adopt a baby in Nevada.

Once you’re sure of your adoption decision, it’s time to choose a professional to help you adopt a baby. If you’re interested in pursuing an infant adoption in NV, American Adoptions is a full-service, national agency that can help you complete this process. However, if you choose to research other professionals, you’ll want to thoroughly investigate certain factors, such as:

• Wait times

• Disruption fees

• Hidden fees

• Support, education and guidance for both adoptive families and prospective birth mothers

• Financial protection in the event of a disruption

It’s important to know exactly what you’re getting in an adoption professional. The services your agency provides should be designed to make the process as easy as possible for your family.

Step 3: Become active with American Adoptions.

If you choose to work with American Adoptions, you’ll be required to complete three steps before becoming an “active family,” which means your information will be shown to pregnant women who are looking for families for their babies.

1. Complete your home study. A home study is designed to review your home, your background, and your financial and medical records to make sure your family is ready to add a new member. Home studies can be scary but remember: They exist to help you prepare for your baby.

2. Complete your APQ or Adoption Planning Questionnaire. By answering a series of questions about aspects like what amount of contact you’re interested in sharing with the birth parents, what medical conditions you might be willing to accept, and more, you’ll be helping your adoption specialist determine which potential birth mothers could be a good match for your family.

3. Complete your adoption profile, which is comprised of both a print profile and a video profile at American Adoptions. The print profile includes pictures and text describing your family, while the video profile allows a pregnant woman to get a more in-depth, visual look at your lives. These resources will help birth parents imagine what their child’s life could be like if placed with you.

Step 4: Find an adoption opportunity.

When all other steps are completed, you’ll enter into a waiting period while prospective birth mothers are looking at your adoptive family profile. This can be a difficult time for some families, and it’s important that you maintain your normal lifestyle as much as possible. Sometimes, it’s even helpful to take up new hobbies to help keep yourselves busy while you wait for the call telling you that you’ve been chosen.

It’s important that you don’t pause your life and dedicate all of your time to shopping for baby clothes or completing a nursery for a child that hasn’t yet arrived. Since there’s nothing you can do at this point to speed the process is up, it’s important that you remain as patient as possible during the waiting period. When your Adoption Specialist calls you with an adoption opportunity, this is when you can continue in your journey of adopting a newborn in Nevada!

Step 5: Get to know the birth parents.

Once you’ve been matched with prospective birth parents, before the baby is born is a great time to get to know them. For you, it’s an opportunity to get to know the people who are so selflessly making this decision for the good of their child. For them, it’s a chance to get to know the people they’ll be placing their baby with. The more comfortable they are with you, the more likely they’ll follow through on their adoption decision.

American Adoptions always encourages openness in adoption, as it benefits all members of the adoption triad. The more comfortable you become with the birth parents before placement, the more natural it will feel to navigate post-placement contact once an adoption is finalized.

Step 6: Complete the adoption.

Adopting a baby in the U.S. is not complete as soon as the baby leaves the hospital with you. There are still steps that must be completed before your baby is legally and permanently yours. These include:

• Completing the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children (ICPC). If you adopt from a state other than Nevada, or if you’re a couple from another state adopting a baby in Nevada, you’ll need to comply with ICPC guidelines before leaving the child’s birth state. This usually takes 7 to 10 business days.

• Completing post-placement visits, which are usually performed by your home study provider to ensure you and your baby are adjusting well to the new change.

• Attending a finalization hearing, which allows a judge to ensure all adoption proceedings and, if everything was executed properly, grant permanent and legal custody of the baby.

While your child’s adoption is legally complete after the finalization hearing, it’s important to understand that adopting a baby is a lifelong commitment not only to raising your child but to having conversations about adoption and maintaining your contact agreement with the birth parents. It’s important that your child is made to feel proud about his or her adoption as well as free to ask any questions that will inevitably arise.

For more information about babies available for adoption or adopting a baby in Nevada with our agency, call American Adoptions at 1-800-ADOPTION, or get free information here. 

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