How Do I Get My Ducks in a row...Adoption

There is a wonderful nonprofit organization in Austin called Adoption Knowledge Affiliates, (AKA). AKA is an educational organization whose purposes are to foster an understanding of adoption issues and to serve as resource to people whose live are touched by adoption, the professionals who work with them, and the general public. AKA meets at 7:00 pm on the 3rd Monday of each month at Westover Hills Church, the corner of Steck and Mesa across from Anderson High School. Check out the web site at www.adoptionknowledge.org....Even though my husband and I adopted a baby girl over 9 years ago, I can not imagine life with out AKA....we have learned so much, as they have all members of the triad, both prospective and adoptive parents, adopted people, and birth mothers, fathers, and grandparents, along with social workers, therapists, etc. They also have an extensive library of books and articles on adoption that are available for check out to anyone who is a member of the organization. This is not a large group of people who meet, but those who are there are highly knowledgeable both professionally and by personal experience. Good Luck and blessings to your family.

In Houston, contact Depelchin Children's Center. They not only will have all the info you need, but also a HUGE, HUGE list (with pics and bios) of children waiting for adoption. Here is their link http://www.depelchin.org/fw/main/Adoption-155.html Otherwise, I'd suggest an attorney who specializes in adoptions (he/she will have a list, but it could REALLY cost!) or an Obstetrician who knows a Mom who is looking for someone to adopt her child. Good luck and God bless you for wanting to give a child a home!

Remember, behind most foster children there is a loving parent who went through labor, gave everything for their child and had them taken away for heresay, bad lawyers, cps workers, and friends of the system trying to get a pay check or to fill a quota for county for an already loved and well taken care of child. Dont believe me? I am a loving parent of my children who gave up everything for them in the trust of an average social worker. I am on HUD or, was. my social worker waited 2 days after the termination date to turn in a mandatory detention report. A friend of mine was telling me CONFIDENTIAL information her friend of the agency leaked out to her with the number to my files. I have fired my previous attourney for failure to turn in important documents needed to get my children back. I was a single mother who fled from an abusive man and became preganant and kept him out of her life. he has been discharged from the NAVY from pleading insanity and i quote, " holding a box cutter up to a mans throat and saying voices told him to do so" his family is full of very bad people. I have maintained the protection of my daughter and no contact with him. He is now in the reunification process thanks to this agency and I have no control of it as a parent. WHY? Because my fianc'e ( seperate man from her bio father) with a chronic knee injury of four years fell while picking my two yr old daughter up resulting in a broken leg. I was compliant with the system, had a two bedroom house, decent income, car, going back to school and taking care of my 2 yr old daughter in a half body cast and newborn baby boy. they waited until she got out of the cast and I taught her to walk all over again a month later to take her and my baby boy off my breast at the court house. I do everything i can in order to get my children back everyday because i know they will know no other love like the love their mother has for them. think about that if you end up adopting. its another aspect of the system. I hope, that adoptive parents are willing to make that sacrifice that they can not imagine.
Thankyou for reading.
~ the mother whos child you may rip away from her.

Hi A.,
Good for you!! My husband & I have one biological son and unable to have any more children so we've decided to adopt as well. We are doing foster to adopt. We picked a local agency here in Austin who works directly with CPS. We filled out an application, went to training ( 2 Saturdays- all day ), got fingerprinted, back ground checks, cpr & first aid training, fire & home inspections done, and had our homestudy completed . Now we are waiting on our 'match'. There's a lot of paperwork to fill out but honestly its not that overwhelming once you get started. We're like you in that we're interested in adopting a girl between 2-6, keeping our son the oldest. Fostering to adopt we know will be hard, since some of the children will return to their bio family, but the time we have with them will be our chance to care for them and love them while we can. Then ultimately we'd like to adopt a child that needs us forever. We're considering sibling groups of two in that age range as well.
I wish you all the best in your journey, if you'd like more info on the agency we're using or anything else, please feel free to let me know. I've love to help!

My husband and I have adopted three children (2,3, and 7) in the foster-to-adopt program through CPS. We are with Homes of St. Mark. Your family needs to visit the websites of a couple agencies in the area and find one that fits your needs. They will walk you through all the things you need to do. It took us about 5 months to complete our classes and all our paper work. We have been so happy with our decision. We are going to remain a licensed foster home just in case the birth mother of our two youngest has more.

Try to consider foster agency.I was a foster home for 11 years,and I adopted 5 children.

Hi A., congratulations on making the decision to make a difference in a child's life.

Given the age range that you listed, I gather that you are seeking adoption via foster care. If so, the first thing I'd suggest you do would be to find an agency with which to work. I live in Houston and I used Depelchin. I've adopted twice...one was a CPS adoption with Depelchin as the managing agency (i.e. "middle man" for lack of a better term) and the other was straight CPS. If I had to do it again, I would always go the "middle man" route because you have knowledgeable professionals on your side, advocating for you when you need it, and you will often need it when dealing with CPS.

This advice is based on how things went for me...

After you decide on the agency, you will attend their 'mandatory' orientation/interest meeting. There, they will share lots of information about what it is you're truly embarking upon, which will help you further decide if this is the right type of adoption for your family, the right time, etc. You'll receive an application after this mandatory orientation.

After that, you'll turn in your application, references, health statements, and other requested documents. Once complete, the agency will assign a homestudy worker to come and visit your home. Part of the homestudy will include your having to have your local fire agency come to your home and do a fire inspection. After the homestudy (including fire inspection) is complete, your family's case is presented to a panel and an approval decision is made.

After you're approved, you meet with a "Matching Specialist" who helps you determine the "type" of child (age, special needs--if any) you feel best able to parent, and would be a good fit in your home. After that, you wait until you are "matched."

If the child is currently in a foster home, you'll visit the child (pre-placement visits) a specified number of times which may include an overnight visit. If everything works out, a date will be set for you to take the child home.

I shared a lot, but probably left out some things. Feel free to message me with specific questions.

Best wishes!

SE

How exciting for you & your family. I felt the same way you did when we made the choice to adopt. Call Depelchin in Houston. They can give you alot of information. There are alot of adoption fairs that you can go to and meet other foster/adopt family's as well as talk to several agency's. They handle children in state care or cps. If your looking to adopt over seas they can also help you with that and put you in the right direction.

I adopted my son 4 yrs ago. We went thru Homes of St. Mark. I wish we had gone thru depelchin. They seemed more in tune with the adoptive parents. Let me know if I can help in any way. I do not regret for one minute the decision made.

Congratulations on your decision!

There is an tremendous amount of info out there. Before I had my son, I also looked into adoption. Are you planning to do a private or state adoption? If you choose private, you have a lot of research to do to find an agency you feel comfortable with. Private adoptions tend to be costly.

If you choose to adopt a child in foster care, your state will have all the necessary information. You have to complete a program and become certified as an adoptive parent. I went through the process in Massachusetts.

Good luck!