Preparing for Adoption

Stepparent Adoption Step-Speak One's biochild is one's birth child. Adoption is a legal procedure in which an adult becomes the legal parent of someone who is not his or her biochild. Relative adoption is adoption by somebody related to the chil...

Introducing Your Adopted Transracial Child How will your family members react if you decide to adopt a child who looks very different from them and from you? They may be shocked and upset, or they may be accepting and positive. Or, more likely, ...

Stepparent Adoption Step-Speak One's biochild is one's birth child. Adoption is a legal procedure in which an adult becomes the legal parent of someone who is not his or her biochild. Relative adoption is adoption by somebody related to the chil...

Answering Questions About Your Adoption After you've adopted your child and introduced him or her to your family, friends, and acquaintances, be prepared for an onslaught of questions—some of them quite rude. For instance, don't be surprised i...

What is Readoption? In the case of intercountry adoptions, some countries issue a final adoption decree to the adoptive parents while they are in the country. But the parents may seek a readoption, an additional adoption in their home state beyo...

Getting Ready for Your Adopted Child Once it begins to sink in that you will actually be bringing a new person into your home and family, you'll start to think about just how much there is to do to prepare for him or her. I'll walk you through s...

Adoption: Single with Children Every state in the United States allows single people to adopt. As a result, marital status isn't a legal barrier to adopting a child anywhere. At least, not officially. Many adoption agencies and attorneys, howeve...

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Waiting for Your Adopted Child The wait is the hardest of all for you, the future adopter. Sure, other people can aggravate you with interminable questions, but you have an awful lot of questions, hopes, and fears yourself. So how do you manage ...

What You Need to Know About a Child You Might Adopt When the agency or attorney tells you about a child who's already been born, you should be sure to ask plenty of questions about the child's health and her environment. Here's a sampling of que...

Your Family's Reaction to Adoption If you have no children now and you plan to adopt, you can bet that your lifestyle will change. Your parents probably realize it. They know parenting isn't for sissies. Here are a few issues that might concern ...

"Open" or "Closed" Adoption? Familybuilding Tips In an open adoption, the adoption arranger often creates a contract that spells out what is expected of each side; for example, how often photographs and letters will be exchanged, and how they wi...

Gay and Lesbian Adopters No one knows how many adopters are gay or lesbian, although some agencies openly welcome gay, lesbian, and bisexual applicants. It may well be that more gays and lesbians are seeking to adopt than in past years, as socie...

Adoption: Single with Children Every state in the United States allows single people to adopt. As a result, marital status isn't a legal barrier to adopting a child anywhere. At least, not officially. Many adoption agencies and attorneys, howeve...

Adoption: Finding Your Child Abroad Although a home study by an adoption agency is mandatory when adopting internationally, some families choose to do some of the legwork of actually finding a child themselves. I think that this is an extremely ...

Government Funding for Adoption Federal and some state governments now offer a number of benefits or reimbursements for some adoption costs. Federal laws also require employers that provide health insurance to give the same insurance to newly-ad...

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Should You Adopt Internationally? Because you are dealing with two countries and usually have to travel overseas to go and get the child, international adoptions are by their very nature more complicated than U.S. adoptions. In addition to the f...