Congrats on a wonderful decision! We did not have alot of money either, so we went through our local child protection agency and fostered before adopting. Here in Ottawa, you do not need to foster before adopting, but we had decided to foster before deciding to adopt our daughters, whom were our foster children for almost 18 months at the time. A few years later, we let the agency know that we were interested in adopting another child, hopefully that was related to our girls. (the bm has had 10 children already, and has one about every year or so) In turned out that at that very moment, they had a child of hers that was waiting to be placed for adoption) He has now been with us for 9 months, and we love our big family. (we have 2 older girls also...for a total of 5 now!) My hubby says that we are done....but I would like maybe one more!

I am in the same boat. My husband and I just found out we can't have kids of our own, and we have been considering adoption for a while anyway. We are just so overwhelmed beginning the process. Does the local child protection agency provide a lot of help? And we are looking to get a baby. Is there a long waiting list?

I feel the same way. Hubby and I don't have a lot of money. Our local agency said that a lot of the time they get older children and not infants, but sometimes they do. I don't know what to do.

Work as your own agent. Get in touch with a local adoption lawyer and have him/her walk you through the specifics and details of running your own ads in local newpapers and then papers across the country. Call a local phone carrier and get setup with an 800 number--your lawyer will explain all the details with the 800 number. Try not to use an agent--some are great, but most will leave you confused and bewildered. YOU CAN BE YOUR OWN AGENT. LOTS OF LUCK....The process can be long and expensive but in the end, it's worth it. Let me know if you have any more questions re. adoption.

My husband and I recently purchased a billboard and had a graphic designer design an ad about couples wanting to adopt. We went in half with another couple who we are friends with and they are using the same adoption attorney that we are. So the attorney is holding the cell phone that we purchased specifically for this. When it rings, she will know that it is in direct connection to our ad and will only show our profile and the profile of the other couple to the girl who is calling. The billboard should be up by the end of this week or very early next week. It's a risk, we know that, God has put this couple in our life becuase he knows that the four of us can make this work to all of our advantages.

WOW Annemarie, thats a fantastic idea you all came up with. I wish you all the best.

Where you begin is by telling everyone you know that you are planning to adopt. Often, this is a great way to find a resource for adoption. That's what we did and one thing led to another. I also found an adoptive parents support group where we live and we attended meetings and talked to other adoptive parents to find viable sources.
The most important thing is to know the adoption laws in your state since each state has their own laws. You can also find out which other states have reciprocal laws so you can search in those states as well. Good luck!

Adopt from foster care. It's free, you'll be helping a child who truly needs a good home, and you won't be tempted to stoop to unethical behaviors that are sometimes prevalent in domestic infant adoption, like trying to convince a pregnant women into giving you her baby.

Oops, just saw how old this thread was, sorry.

To the OP, if you read this, I hope you found some answers somewhere.