How Long Does Domestic Adoption Take To Finalize
It is a wonderful decision when you plan to add to your family through adoption. However, I should let you know that the process of adopting a child can somewhat be stressful and time-consuming.
Meanwhile, if you have made up your mind to adopt, and you are asking “how long does domestic adoption take? Then you are at the right place now.
Domestic adoption can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, but the average time is around six to eight weeks.
The truth about that while some prospective adoptive families can use less time to adopt a child, others can use even longer time to do so because of different reasons that I will show you in a minute.
Many factors will determine how long domestic adoption takes, and this includes – the type of adoption you choose.
There are precisely two ways anyone can adopt in the USA, Which is either through foster care homes or domestic infant adoption, and each of these has its unique requirements which I will show you in this post.
The question is: How Long Does Domestic Adoption Take?
As I earlier said, all adoptive parents have different times for adopting a baby; the reason is that while others have a fast adoption process, others don’t. Below are the reasons:
- Financial reasons:-” how long does domestic adoption take? One of the reasons domestic adoption takes time is when you are not financially ready to complete your adoption process. If you don’t have money set aside for the adoption, you may be stocked along the way. That also means that the adoptive families that have more money at their disposal will have a faster and smoother adoption process.
- The age of the child you want to adopt: The age of the child you want to adopt is also a factor that can affect the length of time you adopt a child. For instance, if you want an infant, you may have to wait a longer time than when you choose to adopt older children. Some older children stay long and are never even adopted, and minorities have a low wait time.
You must have the above factor in mind when you are asking “How Long Does Domestic Adoption Take.”
Let’s break down the adoption process of the two types of adoption and what influence the domestic adoption process.
What is foster care:-
This is a temporary arrangement where an adult willfully chooses to take provide care of a child or children whose birth parents are for one reason or another other unable to provide or take care of them.
Foster care can be arranged or informal and it is usually arranged by either a social service agency or courts.
The intention for placing a child or children in foster care is to reunite them with their families, however, when the reunification did not work as planned, the child may be placed for adoption, if that will be the best for the child.
Adopting a child from foster care is almost the same thing as other types of adoption because it also entails the same decision, the same paperwork, etc.
The difference is that most children in foster care have passed through trauma, so parents who adopt them must go through a series of training, to understand the child and to help the child heal faster.
Mostly the ages of the children you see in foster care range from toddlers to about 25 years. Though you can adopt a baby for foster care, children for 8 years to 25 years are more available.
Let’s look at all the processes of foster adoption so we can find the answer to your question “How Long Does Domestic Adoption Take?”
Adopting a child from foster care is done in only two ways.
Fostering to adopt or adopting from foster care. In the former types of adoption, children are placed with prospective parents to adopt the child later.
In the second way to adopt from foster care, the prospective parents will go to the foster care home to adopt the child when they can not be unified with their family.
– Training And Completion:- All prospective foster parents must undergo some training to know how to effectively take care of the adopted child.
The duration of the training will determine how long the adoption will take. Another determinant of how long domestic adoption will take is the availability of children.
If there are many children available, your chances of adoption will increase.
– Completing The Home Study:- Just like in the normal adoption, you will also be expected to start and complete your home study.
Once your home study is completed, you are ready to be a foster parent. Another thing that can determine the length of the adoption is the availability of the child.
For example, if you desire to adopt a newborn from the foster care home, then you will have to wait a long time. Toddlers and adults are easily available in foster care.
So if you are asking “how long does domestic adoption take?” then have in mind that children are not always available for adoption.
Placement:- Child placement comes after the home study. So get ready to take your child home.
Adoption Opportunities:- The child in your custody may or may not reunite with their family. If the child reunites with the family, that’s good. If not, the alternative becomes foster care.
Have in mind that as foster parents, you can have many placements without any adoption opportunity. That means a delay; hold on a little while, if the child is not reunified with the family, your opportunity will come.
How Long Does Domestic Adoption Take?
Let’s Consider what makes up the whole adoption time in a normal domestic adoption.
Applying For Adoption:-
Your first step to adopting a child is to apply. The adoption agency you are working with will have an application paper that you will fill out before any other thing.
Many states want you to always use a certified/licensed adoption agency for your adoption.
The time it takes you to find a qualified/ licensed agency also determines how long your adoption process will take. The faster you find an agency, the earlier you begin your adoption home study.
Completing The Home Study:-
It takes two to three (2-3) months to complete a home study. The reason for a home study is to make sure that your family and home are safe for the child.
To speed up your process, it’s important to pick and fill out your documents on time. At least you can cut down on time by doing certain things timely.
Finding A Perfect Match:-
Now that you are through with the home study and you have been declared eligible to adopt, your next step will be to wait for a match with a birth mother.
Note that you may experience a very long wait here; if you are lucky then you won’t have to wait that long.
The amount of time you wait to be matched is determined by the agency you use. Therefore, be careful when searching for an agency to use.
Placement And Post-Placement:-
How Long Does Domestic Adoption Take? Yes, another thing that determines the length of your adoption process is the person you are matched with.
Pray that you are not matched with the birth mother who is just a month pregnant because you will have to wait another 8 months to wait.
When you are matched with a birth mom who is ready to deliver, you won’t have to wait much.
Adoption Finalization:-
At this point in your adoption process, you should be ready to have a series of visits from the social worker. This happens at least once a month and it’s compulsory for all adopting parents.
This must be done before the finalization of the adoption process. Have in mind that it takes 6 months from the placement time to the finalization.
In Conclusion:-
I hope this article has taken care of your question “how long does domestic adoption take?
There are so many things that make domestic adoption long. Sometimes there may also be obstructions to an adoption.
This post will help you to know how adoption can be obstructed.
