When adopting a child, there are many factors to discuss and contemplate. Domestic adoptions are known to have many perks for prospective parents. Domestic adoptions have a faster processing time and also afford new parents the same parent-child rights as a child born naturally to them. Domestic adoptions can also provide new parents with a more detailed medical history of the adopted child. Let’s look at some quick facts about domestic adoptions.
The Medical Benefits
If you adopt domestically, the amount of medical information available to can be quite extensive compared to international adoptions.
Many birthparents will allow adoption agencies to share OB/GYN records along with family histories and detailed information about interests, talents, and hobbies. Not only may the child be interested in these details, but it can also help parents to understand if the child leans more towards artistic hobbies, music, or sports.
This type of detailed information can also help paint a more realistic picture of the child’s adoption. If the child later understands the socioeconomic backgrounds of their birth parents, it may help them to see the bigger picture of why their birth parents chose to place them with an adopted family.
Adoption Costs
Domestic and international adoptions have many legal differences. However, cost is not one of them. The cost of an adoption, no matter where the child and parents are located, depends on the arrangements between the birth and adopted parents. The agency involved will help mitigate these factors and provide legal documentation of the fees necessary to complete the process between the two parties involved.
Importance of Location
Adoptive parents should be able to travel where necessary at any time in order to visit the birthmother when permissible. Some parents may choose to stay close to the birthmother until the baby is born and released from the hospital. Each situation is unique to the birthmother and adoptive parents. The agency will help navigate location logistics to negotiate a working plan for both entities.
The Timeframe for Adoptions
Adoption agencies can also help with the timeframe from application to closing. Many families are able to complete an adoption on average from two to twelve months. Some adoptive parents may find themselves waiting longer, depending entirely on their situation and requests of the parties involved. However, factors that can shorten or lengthen the duration of the process include the adoption budget, the home study process, the adoption plan, the birth parents’ wishes, and whether it is an open or closed adoption.
Final Thoughts
Domestic adoptions have many benefits for prospective parents, such as a faster adoption timeframe, access to medical histories, and the ease of meeting a birth parent where they are geographically. Cost is specific to each adoption. Adoption agencies can help prospective parents negotiate this aspect. The adoption process is a very complicated one but the benefits far outweigh the momentary strife to get to the end goal. Adopting a child and bringing them into your family will be a lifelong blessing.
