Adoption in Wyoming can be life-changing.

There are many different paths that may have brought you here. Oftentimes, couples work through a long struggle with infertility before coming to adoption. Other couples simply feel adopting a child in Wyoming is the right thing to do and the best choice for their family. Whatever the case may be, you deserve the opportunity to fulfill you dream of becoming a parent. Adopting a baby in Wyoming is a great way to do that.

Along with excitement, you may also be feeling nervous, scared or confused. Adoption seems like such a massive undertaking. The process can be long, and you’ve undoubtedly heard about how it can be expensive. Where do you even begin?

This guide to adoption in Wyoming will answer your biggest questions and set you up with the information you need to begin your adoption process. You can also contact us online at any time to learn more about adoption in Wyoming.

How Do I Adopt a Child in Wyoming?

With the right knowledge, and the right guidance, beginning the adoption process in Wyoming doesn’t have to be intimidating. Even though this process is long and can seem complex, you can have a positive experience with adoption with little stress and a lot of excitement. It helps to understand the basic of how to adopt a baby in Wyoming before you get started.

While every adoption is unique, these are the broad steps you will follow when you are adopting a child in Wyoming.

Step 1: Decide if Adoption in Wyoming Is Right for You

This is an important choice, so you can’t skip past the first step. Adoption isn’t right for everyone, but it could be the best thing for you. The reason it’s so important to know this upfront is that you have to be completely committed to adoption from the get-go. You can’t adopt a baby in Wyoming half-heartedly.

When you’re considering if adoption in Wyoming is right for you, it could be helpful to ask questions like:

• Am I prepared for the responsibility of parenthood?

• Can I support a child, both emotionally and financially?

• Am I ready to wait patiently while the adoption process unfolds?

• Am I prepared for some of the unique aspects of parenting children who are adopted?

There are plenty of other questions you can ask, too. What matters is that you know, beyond any doubts, that adoption is right for you, and that you are ready to commit to this process.

Step 2: Choose an Adoption Professional to Work With

Once you’ve reached a place where you can confidently say, “I want to adopt a baby in Wyoming,” then you are ready for the next step, which is choosing an adoption professional to work with. When you adopt a baby in Wyoming, you won’t do it alone. A qualified professional will guide you at each step. This professional should be your go-to resource for anything related to the baby adoption in Wyoming.

Who you choose to work with can completely change your experience with adoption in Wyoming. Generally speaking, there are four types of professionals you can choose from.

• National Adoption Agencies: American Adoptions is a full-service, fully-licensed national adoption agency. National adoption agencies work across the entire country. Typically, larger staffs and a wider area of work result in shorter wait times for adopting families. There are many other advantages of working with a national adoption agency, too.

• Local Adoption Agencies: A smaller, local adoption agency in Wyoming offers more opportunity for face-to-face interaction with your social worker. Local adoption agencies tend to have smaller staffs, which can make it feel more personal, but can also create longer wait times as workers try to cover a larger number of cases at once.

• Adoption Attorneys: You will work with an adoption attorney for some steps of adoption in Wyoming if you work with an adoption agency, but some people choose to go straight to the attorney. The primary advantage of this is clear, direct contact. The primary disadvantage is that it will be more difficult for an adoption attorney to find an adoption opportunity for you.

• Adoption Facilitators: Facilitators are unlicensed, unregulated organizations that try to find placement opportunities for adoptive families and prospective birth mothers. Working with an adoption facilitators can make the adoption process much more unpredictable. 

Step 3: Prepare to Becoming an Active Waiting Family

This step will look different depending on which professional you work with. When you adopt a baby in Wyoming with American Adoptions, you will have a dedicated adoption specialist to help you at every step. Before you can find babies to adopt in Wyoming, you will need to complete a few things to become an active waiting family.

• The APQ: Your Adoption Planning Questionnaire outlines the type of adoption you would like to complete. This is your chance to shape the adoption process, so it’s important to be completely honest and be clear with your adoption specialist about what you want.

• Your Adoptive Family Profile: With the help of a media specialist, you will create a family profile with letters and photos, and you will also create a video profile. These will be shown to prospective birth mothers once you become an active waiting family.

• The Adoption Home Study: Anyone adopting a baby in Wyoming has to complete the adoption home study. This is a review of your living situation and adoption readiness by a licensed social worker. Your adoption specialist will help you complete the home study with as little stress as possible.

Step 4: Find Babies to Adopt in Wyoming

Once you’ve become an active waiting family, your adoption specialist will help you find babies to adopt in Wyoming by showing your adoptive family profile to prospective birth mothers. This part of the process can be difficult for many hopeful parents, because you pretty much just wait. After so much activity, it’s now about patience until a prospective birth mother chooses your family.

When the time comes, you’ll get a phone call from your adoption specialist, who will tell you that you’ve been chosen for a baby. This is a truly life-changing moment. You will have worked hard to get here, and it’s worth celebrating. You are going to adopt a baby in Wyoming!

Step 5: Pre-Placement Contact

It may come as a surprise to learn that more than 90 percent of domestic infant adoptions are at least semi-open. This means that, depending on the adoption plan the prospective birth mother created, you will have the chance to get to know her before birth. This could take place via email, conference calls, video chats or in-person visits. Your adoption specialist will likely facilitate the conversation when you adopt a baby in Wyoming.

Pre-placement contact is an opportunity to begin forming a meaningful relationship with the prospective birth mother. It can be one of the most assuring parts of the process for a prospective birth mother who is making a very difficult decision. Be kind and encouraging, because the more a prospective birth mother feels connected to you, the more confident she will be in her decision.

Step 6: Placement and Post-Placement

Toward the end of the adoption process, you’ll get another amazing phone call, this one telling you that the prospective birth mother is going into labor. It’s time to travel; your baby is being born. The hospital stay will go according to the plan created by the prospective birth mother. Everyone should be as supportive of her as possible during this time.

After birth, and after any mandatory waiting period has passed, the prospective birth mother will give her official consent to the adoption. Your baby will be placed in your arms, and your family will begin. This moment is one that you will remember for the rest of your life — the defining point of adoption in Wyoming.

There are still a few steps left in the adoption process after placement, like adoption finalization. You’ll also have the chance to maintain ongoing communication with the birth mother through an open adoption plan. This will all depend on the details of your unique adoption.

Getting Started Today

Do you want to adopt a baby in Wyoming? Now that you have a basic grasp of the process, you may feel ready to get started. Or, you could have more questions about adopting a child in Wyoming. Either way, you can call 1-800-ADOPTION today to speak with an adoption specialist, or request more free information about adoption at any time.

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.