In the last 20 years there has been a steady, sizable increase in the number of single-parent adoptions. Why would a successful, independent single man or woman want to give up his or her freedom and assume the responsibilities of raising a child? The desire to nurture and to share life as a family is a strong universal need that is felt by a large number of people and one that is not exclusive to married people or couples.

A number of factors have encouraged the acceptance of single-parent families. Perhaps most is the growing number of one-parent households due to divorce and to unmarried women having and keeping their children. With so many children living in this type of home environment, adoption agencies have been more willing to consider unmarried men and women as prospective adopters. And the latest research indicates that children raised in single adoptive parent families compare favorably with other adopted children and show a healthy involvement with friends and family as well as in the activities of their age group.

Despite the greater acceptance of single-parent adoption, the traditional view of parenting, that a child needs a mother and a father for healthy growth and development, still exists. Mental health experts say that the "ideal" is to place a child in a two-parent home with a mother and father who are compatible and loving. However, there are many children for whom this "ideal" is not possible and many single people who feel that such bias is unfair.

Your family and friends may be your first hurdle. They may not understand why anyone would assume the responsibility for raising a child alone. They may ask if you have lost your senses. It may or may not be possible for you to convince them that you know what you are doing.

Agencies have varying policies in dealing with single applicants. Some don't accept them at all. Others may put your application and request for a home study (a family assessment) on the back burner while waiting to find a couple who wants to adopt. The children offered to you may have disabilities that you cannot handle, or be 12 years old when you requested a toddler. If you pursue independent adoption (a path to adoption with no agency involvement), birth mothers may balk when they learn you are single.

Single men face even tougher scrutiny as they are asked intimate questions about their sexuality, motives, friends, and living arrangements. They may be qualified to parent and still be turned down.

Going at it alone is not easy. Adoptive parents and agencies, in preparing prospective adoptive parents, stress the importance of having friends and family who can lend support and serve as a backup system. It will also help if you can demonstrate to a potential adoption agency that you have thought through some of the long-term implications of being a single adoptive parent. For example, if you have evaluated your financial situation thoroughly before going to an agency, and can present a realistic picture of how you plan to provide for a child over the years, they will see how serious and stable you are.

As you approach agencies and other adoption resources, you have to believe in yourself. The process may not be a smooth one and you may have some doors closed to you. But as one successful adopter put it, "You have to believe that there is a child somewhere in the world waiting for you." Your determination and assertiveness can make your dream come true.

About the Author

Frederic Lampard is the owner of a baby adoption website - visit now.

Tags: Adoption General Information

Children's charity NCH is to launch a scheme to encourage more people from black and other ethnic minority communities to adopt children.

As National Adoption Week begins, NCH said its NCH Black Families staff would help those people by being able to understand their background.

It said for every approved adopter from a black or mixed background there were three children available for adoption.

A recent NCH study showed many people were unaware of adoption criteria.

Tags: Adoption General Information, Interacial Adoption

The pain of giving up a child for adoption can be lessened with open adoption. In open adoption, the birth mother can interview prospective parents and decide who the birth parents will be. The birth parent can be just a single mother or it can include the father in the decision-making. Either way, their one concern is that the baby be placed in an adoptive home where it will be well cared for and have the best chances for its future.

The tools birth parents use to evaluate prospective adoptive parents:

• Resume
• Photos
• Phone Call
• Interview

The Resume

Unlike a job resume the adoptive resume consists less of vital statistics and more of the personal attributes and view of life of the adoptive parents. In it there should be a letter, which should begin "Dear Birth Mother" and indicate why the parents are seeking adoption and their views on open adoption. It should include personal information like the type of neighborhood, hobbies, relatives, education and home life. This gives the birth mother a good idea of how committed the family is to adoption and what types of resources her child will have growing up.

Photos

As corny as the old adage is, a picture is still worth a thousand words. Close-up photos of the birth parent are important, but so too are the pictures of siblings, pets, household, neighborhood, and special occasions. Here a prospective adoptive couple can get very creative in conveying just how wonderful their life is and how they have much to offer an adopted child. The birth mother will want to be able to picture her child in the happy, loving home of its adoptive parents.

Phone Call

Before a face-to-face interview is scheduled, often a phone call is set up by the adoption agency or lawyer. This is usually a conference call and questions are sometimes scripted so that all prospective adoptive parents get the same questions. If the birth mother feels there is a potential match, she can request an interview.

Interview

The birth parent interview with the prospective parents may be held at a restaurant with the prospective parents understanding they are to pay for the meal. The counselor helping the adoption process will most likely also be there. This is the time when birth parents can assess if the family is a really good match with more in-depth questions than what were given in the phone interview.

After this entire process, there are a variety of factors a birth mother will evaluate in choosing the new parents. Many focus on education, religion, and the stability of the home. They prefer to know that their child will have a good chance at being well-educated and that the family doesn't move around too often and the marriage is sound. She will be anxious to know their views on open adoption and how much contact they will allow her after the adoption takes place.

The deciding factor in all these communications can end up being the fact that birth parents are musically inclined, like the birth mother, or have hobbies and skills that the birth mother appreciates. It's hard to tell what will swing the vote, but mostly both adoptive parents and birth mother can tell upon the interview if they are a good match without hesitation.

Another set of factors may be the cultural heritage of the couple or their expressed religious faith. If it closely matches the birth mother's values, the birth mother will know her child is being raised in a similar environment to her own. Language barriers may also be a reason why a birth mother chooses close to her own culture, plus the understanding that the child will have good roots in a family that can support it, but also roots in its ethnicity and people.

There are many ways a birth parent chooses the family for her baby. It is a long and involved process but one that can bring a sense of peace to the birth mother and the joy of a new child to adoptive couples. Establishing good, honest communication during the adoption process between the birth parent and the adoptive parents is a skill they will need to continue on with a process that can last a lifetime.

Tags: adoption agency, domestic adoption

International Adoption - The Basics of Adopting from another Country
By Patrick Phillips

The issue of “Foreign Adoption”, “Overseas Adoption”, “International Adoption”, “Intercountry Adoption”, call it what you will or prefer, has been raised a great many times. The common misconception of a well meaning family from the developed world carrying a suitcase full of cash and dubious papers to some shady third world agency and coming home with a child wrapped in blankets seems to arise every now and then. Probably because occasionally (and I emphasise the word occasionally) this does indeed happen but on a great many more occasions (and very much in the majority of cases) the process is entirely different, well run and works extremely efficiently.

This article serves by and large to provide a basic understanding of what International Adoption (Foreign Adoption etc) is all about and the basic International Legislation that covers it.

Firstly the basic question arises time and time again, why do many International Governments allow Adoptions from another Country to happen when there are probably still a great many children within the country who need new families. Well basically the answer is as follows, although there are many children at home looking for an adoptive family, there are still many children in other countries who need homes. Adoption from abroad may be their only opportunity to belong to a permanent family. For humanitarian reasons, Government allow International Adoptions to proceed where:

• the child cannot be cared for in any suitable manner in his/her country;

• the adoption would be in the best interests of the child and with respect to the child's fundamental rights as recognised in international law; and

• the adopter has been assessed as eligible and suitable to adopt from abroad by a registered adoption agency (a local authority or voluntary agency registered to work on International Adoptions).

Currently it can take anything from 1-3 years in total to adopt a child from another country, depending on the adoption system in the other country and the availability of suitable children for adoption.

The world of International Adoption has by it’s very nature needed very tight legislation – after all child trafficking is an extremely abhorrent, cruel and nasty practice (not to mention very illegal) and now it appears that this legislation is now starting to take effect. The major item of International Law that covers International Adoption is the Hague Convention.

The 1993 Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption aimed to establish an international system of co-operation that aims to prevent the abduction of, the sale of, and illegal traffic in children. The Convention requires that International adoption happens only when it is in the child's best interests, that all adopters are assessed and approved as suitable to adopt and that no profit is made from the adoption process.

Where an adoption has been completed under the Hague Convention the child will automatically receive Citizenship from the Country that you or your partner originates from. The adoption will be automatically recognised in all other contracting Countries.

Taking this all into account is it still possible to legally adopt a child from a Country that has not either recognised or been recognised by the Hague Convention? The Answer to this question is yes, but if the adoption order is not recognised in the country of either origin or your own, you will need to re-adopt the child in a domestic court from your own country for the adoptive relationship to be legally recognised.

What is the process for adopting from a Hague Convention country? You should first contact your local authority social services department or a registered adoption agency to discuss your plans to adopt a child from a Hague Convention country. Your agency will provide advice and information about adoption that will set out the legal requirements and procedures for adopting from a Hague Convention country.

If you are eligible to adopt under the Hague Convention, the social services department or a registered voluntary adoption agency will carry out an assessment of your suitability to adopt, involving in-depth social worker interviews, police and medical checks and interviews with your personal referees (privately commissioned assessments are not acceptable).

The information gathered, on which you will have an opportunity to comment, will be presented to the social services department or adoption agency's panel. The panel will consider the assessment and make a recommendation about whether you are suitable to adopt.

A senior manager at the agency will then, taking the panel's recommendation into account, make a decision about whether to approve you as suitable to adopt.

An Adoption Order severs all legal ties with the birth family and confers parental rights and responsibilities on the new adoptive family. The birth parents no longer have any legal rights over the child and they are not entitled to claim him back. Your child becomes a full member of your family; they take your surname and assumes the same rights and privileges as if they had been born to you, including the right of inheritance.

Bringing up a child can be mutually rewarding and great fun, as well as being hard work and a big responsibility. This is especially so when you choose to bring up a child who was not born to you.

As of the time of writing this article (things do change from time to time) a fairly comprehensive list of member governments who have signed up to this convention can be found at: http://www.internationaladoptioninformation.com/hagueconventionmembercountries.html

Patrick is the principal advisor for International Adoption Information, an independent advisory organisation in Social and Child Welfare. http://www.internationaladoptioninformation.com, http://www.internationaladoptionusa.info and http://www.internationaladoptionresourcecentre.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Patrick_Phillips
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Tags: Adoption General Information, adoption in the uk, african adoption, scottish adoption records, taiwan adoption agency, us adoption agency handling belize adoptions

Adoption Agencies

There are many adoption agencies available to help you in the adoption process.  The purpose of the adoption agency is to assist you with throughout the entire adoption process, making it easier and more stress-free for everyone.  The adoption agencies match prospective parents with children who are available to be adopted.  The agency receives a fee from the prospective parents. 

Parents considering adoption must choose the adoption agency that is right for them from hundreds of possible options.  This can be an overwhelming task but is the very first step in the adoption process if you are going to use an agency.  The best way to have a successful adoption is to pick a reliable, experienced adoption agency that is committed to helping families. 

Location

Adoption agencies should be properly licensed in the country they are doing business.  Generally, you will want to choose an agency that works in the country where you live, regardless of the country the child is from.  In fact, you should choose an agency that is located in close proximity to where you live.  You will have many meetings with them and they will need to perform a home study prior to adoption.

Experience

Choose an experienced agency.  Look for feedback from others who have used the adoption agency.  Check their credentials.   Make sure that they work primarily with the type of adoption you are planning and ask about their successful placement rate.  Unique online database in a public forum is available to search via the Inter-Country Adoption registry (ICAR).  You can also check various online message boards to find information from other adoptive parents.

Cost

Adoption agency fees can vary greatly.  They generally begin at about $3,000 to $5,000. Additional fees are often assessed based on additional forms that need to be filled out.  If translation is involved you will need to add money on for those costs.  When adopting from an orphanage there are often “donations” that need to be made.  Some agencies may offer reduced fees when adopting an older child.  Lawyers fees also need to be considered. Total adoption fees for domestic adoptions can range to $30,000 and international fees generally average from $22,000 to $35,000.

Home Study

Adoption home study is an in-depth review of the prospective adoptive family.  It is typically mandatory and must be conducted by a licensed agency or social worker in your state.  The study will evaluate the emotional, mental, physical and financial ability of the adoptive family to determine if they are suitable to adopt. It includes visits to the home as well as in-depth evaluation of medical reports, criminal records and employment history.

Application Process

Adoption agencies will allow you to begin the application process.  Most charge a non-refundable processing fee that allows them to start the detailed process.  If you are not eliminated your application process will continue and additional fees will apply.  You should choose the agency wisely so you avoid losing multiple application fees.  Check the adoption agency web site before submitting an application and be sure you understand their specific procedures. 

Tags: adoption agencies, adoption agencies & services, adoption agency, Adoption General Information, adoption registry, bethany adoption, domestic adoption