There are always children in the world in need of parents. There are always loving couples in the world seeking to make a home for a child in need. But those aren’t the only shapes of adoptive families, as no two adoptions look anything alike, and no two face the same challenges.
Here’s a list of the most common types of adoption and their unique challenges:
Agency adoption
A public adoption is one that goes through the California Department of Youth and Families. These are the types of adoptions that often begin in foster care and evolve into the desire to go to full adoption. Often, in an agency adoption, the agency – a private or state-run agency – takes full control of the child’s well-being and monitors the child’s safety for up to six months post-adoption.
The agency takes care of the paperwork and the termination of parental rights. These adoptions tend to pull on the population of children in foster care.
Independent adoption
An independent adoption is one where the child is placed directly into the home of the prospective parents. This is often the option for parents who pursue newborn children as their new child. There is no agency involved; instead, the birth parent chooses the prospective parents and signs over all their rights. This is a complicated process and often requires the help of skilled attorneys. Frequently, these are international adoptions.
Intercountry adoption
International adoptions- inter-country adoptions – are for parents who seek to raise foreign-born children for various reasons. These are complicated by all the normal factors of adoption with the added difficulties of meeting the requirements of both the US and the foreign country’s requirements.
Family adoption
Including stepparent, grandparent and other family members, such as uncles, aunts or cousins, family adoptions are very common. In stepparent adoption, often a new step parent develops a bond with the children of his or her spouse and takes steps to codify that bond. In other family adoptions, it is often the case that the more distant relations step in when the child’s birth parents are unable to care for them.
In all of these family adoption cases, the process is streamlined, in order to keep the child housed and close with family that cares for them.
No adoption is stress-free
Whatever type of adoption you’re considering, whatever type of adoption you’re undergoing, there are challenges along the way. With a skilled legal team, those challenges can be mitigated.