I want to thank you for opening your heart and mind to possibly adopting. i was adopted thankfull as i wasn't in a very good situation. you would be a blessing to any childs life. dont get me wrong sometimes its not an easy road but with God's help and any programs that are available where you are can help. maybe if you do adopt it might be a good idea to seek counseling soon after the child being permantly placed with you so that if any issues arise they can be dealt with right then and there and not 3 years after the fact. i'm here if you need to talk about anything.

God bless you.Keep praying for guidance.I recommend reading 'The Primal Wound' an insight into some adoptees mind.Please don't be over-anxious!

it's great that you're considering adoption, i'm a result of adoption. i'd like to warn you to make sure who you're dealing with, there are a lot of scammers out there. also, just ready yourselves for rejection too. you have to understand, giving up a baby is ridiculously painful, just read some of these birth mothers stories in this group. sometimes, they change their mind. so i'm just giving advice as to be careful, i don't want you to get your hearts broken. but please, don't let this discourage your hopes of adoption, because its really a beautiful thing, and i know your adotpive child will love you more than you'll ever know [:

A few suggestions for you in your search. Please look into adoption through your state's child protective services. While many of the kids available there are older, a surprising number of infants are available. Some will argue that those kids are "damaged" in some way, I assure you, many children available through private adoption suffer from symptoms of neglect or substance abuse. The only demonstrable difference is that private adoption is usually final within weeks versus months, and private adoption can cost upwards of $50,000 while adoption through CPS is free.

My wife and I have adopted two beautiful siblings. One was placed at 16 months, and the other at three day straight from the hospital. A week before finalization for the first two, we were contacted by CPS because mom had another little boy. He came to us at 5 days, is now seven months old, and his adoption should be finalized in the spring.

All that said, be clear in identifying the kinds of children you are willing to take, but be careful not to be so picky that you never get called. In many private adoptions, the birth mom will review "lifebooks" from several prospective adoptive parents that meet her specific criteria. Sadly your age, attractiveness, and ethnicity will impact her choices, as will the style of your presentation and the photos you select. After passing that hurdle, you will get an opportunity to have a face to face with her, and hopefully establish some positive chemistry. We have many friends and family members who have adopted. Fees have ranged from $7,500 to $60,000, with the mean somewhere north of $25,000. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and good luck in your search.

Its great that you are thinking about the adoption process, my DH and I are also starting the adoption process, we have a completed home study and have taken all the necassary courses. It is a long journey and can be a heart breaking. I do recommend doing alot of research on the agency you decide to go with. Personally we have decided to go through our local Childrens aid society.
Good luck with your search.

My only advice i can give you is that make it an open adoption and go through a trusted agency. Make sure that you cover all your bases and get everything in writing and have a lawyer present. Things can go wrong and you have to be careful. I haven't adopted any children but i have gave a baby up when i was young. I had a ok experience but i wasn't educated to the whole process and made some mistakes. Good luck with everthing

How wonderful that you are considering adoption. It certainly sounds that your heart is open to it and a child would be very lucky to have your love and dedication. It is understanding that you might be nervous as there are so many ways to go about this process. There is state, private, domestic, international, and it all depends on what you are looking for. My husband and I cannot have kids so we decided on adoption from the time we got married. We looked into domestic but found it difficult and long from our state. Maybe other states are more organized, so since we are older, we decided to go internationally and are going to have a 3-5 year old girl. This way, it is only taking us a year and a half. Our agency has been great, hague compliant, so they make sure we don't have to duplicate any efforts etc. It has been a good experience- we choose Colombia for being closer than say, China or Russia. We have done all our home studies and will have a counselor available when she arrives this spring. Prices are a bit higher than domestic- maybe $15000 more. I was adopted as well, and I also came privately and from Brazil, so for us, this is a full circle event. Best of luck and research well your agency and options!