While it can be frustrating to be facing a waiting period of indeterminate length, it’s important to note that there are only so many parts of the adoption journey that adoptive parents can control. This is why many hopeful parents and professionals refer to it as a “journey.” Adoption comes with highs and lows, many of which are out of anyone’s control. At the end of the road, however, is the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of parenthood.
At Angel Adoption, we’re with you every step of the way. Our team of compassionate and caring coordinators can offer guidance, support, and resources that can help you better navigate your adoption journey. If you have any questions, we’re here to help.
Though the average wait time for adoption varies greatly and depends on a number of factors, we see hopeful parents connect and adopt anywhere within 6 to 24 months or more. The factors identified below often affect the wait time and duration of your adoption process the most.
One of the most important steps to moving forward with adoption is the completion of an adoption home study by a licensed social worker or home study agency. At Angel Adoption, we recommend getting started on this process right away, as it requires background checks, interviews, home visits, fingerprinting, and more. As a result, completing a home study can take anywhere from two to six months.
After you sign on to work with Angel Adoption, we’ll create an adoptive family profile for you that will be actively presented to prospective birthmothers and be discoverable online. Your profile will include information about yourself and your family, personal goals, hobbies, and other details about your life. Once your profile has been completed, a prospective birthmother could choose your family quickly, or it could take a few months as birthmothers consider their options. There is no way for anyone to predict how long it will take for a family to get chosen.
The type of adoption hopeful parents are looking for and their other personal adoption preferences can have a significant effect on how quickly they are chosen by a prospective birthmother. In general, the more flexible and open an adoptive family is, the more adoption situations they will be a good fit for, which increases their chances of being chosen.
Once you’ve been chosen by a potential birthmother, our coordinators will facilitate communication based on the birthmother’s wishes. This next waiting period can vary widely based on how far along in her pregnancy the expectant mother is. If you’re chosen by an expectant mother at the start of her pregnancy, you may be communicating with her for several months before moving to the next step of the adoption process. During this time, you’ll hire an adoption attorney, prepare to meet the baby, provide support to the expectant mother as she prepares to give birth, and more.
Once the baby is born, there is a waiting period before you can take the baby back to your home state. This waiting period can vary by a few days up to a week or more, depending on the state laws where the birth takes place. In this period, adoptive parents should be prepared to find lodging and stay in the state where the baby is born until all legal requirements are met to take the newborn home.
“We know he was the baby meant for us. We wouldn’t change a thing about the long wait or the heartache if it meant that Jack wouldn’t be our son.” — Kristopher & Antonia
These are just a handful of the major factors that can affect how long it takes to adopt a newborn. Through each step, adoptive parents must be patient and understand that no two adoption journeys are alike. Each family goes through different challenges and navigates the process at different speeds.
While each journey is unique, you don’t have to go through it alone. When you partner with an adoption service provider like Angel Adoption, you’ll have a coordinator available who can help navigate the adoption process and offer insight, guidance, and, most importantly, support.
