What are my adoption options?
When it comes to domestic adoption, you have two options: you can work with a certified adoption agency or you can adopt privately.
Whether you are a birthmother considering placing her baby for adoption, or you are a family looking to adopt, you have your choice of working through an agency or not.
In this article, we’ll consider the pros and cons of private adoption vs. agency adoption so you can decide which is best for you.
Pros and Cons of Private Adoption vs. Agency Adoption
Agency Adoption
An agency adoption involves placing a child through a licensed agency. Prospective adoptive parents create an adoption profile that describes their family. The adoption agency then shows these profiles to birth mothers. The birth mother will then choose the family who she wants to adopt her baby. Throughout the entire process, the adoption agency guides the birth mother and adoptive parents.
Learn more about the services an adoption agency provides in the pros and cons list below.
Agency Adoption Pros
- The agency takes care of all legal aspects. This means that you have the greatest assurance of completing a fully legal adoption.
- If you are a birthmother, the agency can provide you with emotional and financial support, housing and transportation assistance, and medical care and health insurance.
- The agency also provides counseling for birth mothers.
- The birth mother has her choice of parents. She can also choose what kind of relationship she has with the adoptive family. The agency’s job is to support her and guide her through the process, but she is in full control.
- Agencies have all the services needed to help adoptive families get approved for adoption, including conducting a home study, getting matched, and handling all legal and technical aspects of the adoption.
- Adoption specialists have years of experience matching adoptive and birth parents. They can provide you with the educational resources you need to complete the adoption process successfully.
- Agencies have many other services that help both birth mothers and adoptive parents complete the adoption!
Agency Adoption Cons
- Agencies charge adoptive families fees. These fees contribute toward the birth mother’s expenses, counseling for the birth mother, legal services, and more. Ultimately, working with an adoption agency can be more expensive for adoptive families.
Private Adoption
Private adoption, otherwise known as an independent adoption, is a direct placement between a birthmother and adoptive family without the use of an agency. Instead, they work with a lawyer or private adoption agency that will facilitate the adoption and ensure all legal actions are done correctly.
This is a good option for birth parents and adoptive families that already know each other. For instance, if you are a prospective adoptive parent that has a friend who is planning to place her baby for adoption, private adoption is a popular option. If you want to do private adoption and are not matched yet, you will need to search on your own.
In other words, if you would like to adopt, you will need to find a birth mother looking for adoptive parents on your own. Likewise, if you are pregnant and looking for a family looking to adopt, you will need to find a family on your own. In contrast, an adoption agency already has adoptive families birth mothers can choose from.
Below, we will consider the pros and cons of private adoption.
Private Adoption Pros
- On average, the cost for adoptive parents to privately adopt can be lower because the adoptive parents don’t have to pay an agency any fees.
- The adoptive family and birth parents can get to know each other without agency involvement.
- Private adoption can be a good option for birth parents and adoptive families who already know each other and are in contact with one another.
Private Adoption Cons
- Adoptive parents and birth mothers must match themselves without the help of an agency. This screening process can be very difficult and time-consuming for both birth mothers and adoptive parents.
- Birth mothers have fewer choices when it comes to adoptive families. With an adoption agency, the birth mother can choose from a wide range of families hoping to adopt.
- If a birth mother needs counseling and support, she will need to find it from a third party.
- If a birth mother wants a closed or semi-open adoption, private adoptions do not have any mediators to facilitate the arrangements.
- Unless the birth mother has health insurance or is covered by medical assistance, the cost for adoptive families may be just as expensive as an agency adoption. No matter what type of adoption adoptive parents choose, they will have to pay all medical, legal, and living expenses a birth mother needs.
- Even though adoptive parents do not have to pay agency fees, they don’t have the benefits of working with an agency. Agency fees can help with support, counseling, and case management.
- In many states, adoptive parents are expected to pay for and arrange for the services of an adoption attorney, home study provider, counselor for the birth mother, and a specialist who can help them create their adoption profile.
- There are a lot of legal matters involved with adoption. If anyone of these legal adoption requirements is not met, the adoption could result in disruption or dissolution. You will need to hire an adoption attorney who can help you understand the adoption laws in your state. Otherwise, the adoption could be challenged.
Private Adoption vs. Agency Adoption: Which Should You Choose?
In the end, adoption agencies are the most efficient way to complete the adoption process. Many people choose to work with an adoption agency rather than handling everything on their own. But what should you do?
Partnering with a private adoption agency provides you with all the benefits listed above. They will take care of all the legal aspects of the adoption, help you get matched, and provide you with support post-adoption. If you are looking to adopt, the agency will help you complete a home study and create a personalized adoption profile.
But what if you have already found an adoption match? Many private adoption agencies can create a custom adoption plan for you.
For instance, Texas Adoption Center is a local Texas adoption agency that works with adoptive families and birth parents.
With down to earth, professional services, this agency is dedicated to the happiness and wellbeing of birthmothers. Their goal is to empower you to make good choices, building a solid foundation for a bright, productive future. If you need financial help, housing, transportation assistance, emotional support, counseling, or medical care/health coverage, Texas Adoption Center is there to support you!
If you are hoping to adopt, Texas Adoption Center’s services include helping you complete the home study, matching you with a birth mother, helping you complete the adoption profile, and providing you with legal assistance.
No matter your situation, if you would like to learn more about domestic adoption and how you can get started with the process, the professionals at Texas Adoption Center is available to answer all your questions. Give them a call at 512-893-7943 or fill out a contact form today!
