domestic adoption in a nutshell

We are choosing to pursue a private adoption rather than through foster care. The process starts the same as an international adoption with a home study. We are fortunate that we will be able to use our same home study, which is currently being revised, so we will not need to start from scratch. However, it does somewhat limit our options. Most in-state adoption agencies would require us to redo it, so we will be working with a placement agency or agencies out of state.

We are currently applying to Adoption Associates, Inc. in Michigan. Along with our application, we will be sending a "profile". Our profile is directed toward expectant mothers who are choosing families for their babies, and includes information about what the child's life will be like as a Wedan in a photo album type format. Many women want to choose a family that will have their same religion and values or live in a certain type of community or have a similar ethnic background. If I start to talk about racial inequality in adoption, this would no longer be "domestic adoption in a nutshell", so I will save that soapbox for later. But, in a nutshell, a woman who is carrying a caucasian baby, or any race but black, will have many, many families to select from. A woman carrying a black or part-black baby will have limited or no families to choose from. Sadly, many women will not have the option of placing her black baby with a black family.

So, after a woman selects us to be her child's forever family, we will get some information about her situation, and decide if we want to go forward with the "match". A lot of times, this all happens during the third trimester of the pregnancy. However, sometimes, a baby will be surrendered at a hospital, and there is no adoption plan in place, in which case, the agency would select a family, and our family could go from 2 to 3 literally overnight. Also, sometimes a baby is born and the agency has been unable to find a suitable family. In that case, the baby is placed in temporary foster care until there is a family to adopt him.

Because we are adopting out-of-state, we will need to comply with Minnesota laws, as well as the laws of the state where the baby is born. Basically, this means that, when Brett is born, we will travel to his state, and we will be required to stay in that state with Brett for 1-2 weeks while some paperwork goes through the court.

You would think we would choose a warm vacation spot, like Florida, since we will be "stuck" there for a while. After all, we are approaching 8 long months of winter here in Minnesota! But, we're starting out with Michigan, because, among other reasons, it would be nice to have the option to drive, rather than fly.

Once we get back to MN, we will finalize the adoption here.