Contents
What Is Domestic Adoption?
Ideal Adoptive-Parent Qualities
Legalities of Adoption
Domestic Infant Adoption
Foster-to-Adopt Adoption
Open Adoption
Other Issues in Adoption
How to Finance an Adoption
After Your Child Comes Home
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Other Issues in Adoption
There are a number of other issues—race, culture, sexual orientation, age, siblings, and special needs—to consider when it comes to adoption.
Transracial and Transcultural Adoption
Transracial and transcultural adoption occur when the adoptive family is of a different race or culture than the child they’re adopting. These adoptions introduce special challenges and considerations. There’s no right way to handle transracial or transcultural adoption, but it can be helpful to seek out other families with similar cultural ties and ask them how they’ve made it work. Your agency or attorney may be helpful in finding supportive people. If you’re considering a transracial or transcultural adoption, ask yourself:
- Do you have access to the child’s birth community?
- Are you willing and able to seek out role models from the child’s community?
- Will you help the child explore the history, values, and traditions of his or her community?
- How will you feel if the child identifies more with his or her birth community than adoptive community?
Native American Adoption
The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is a federal law that strictly controls the adoption of children who are of Native American descent. Children who are members of a federally recognized tribe or are eligible for tribal membership and have at least one biological parent who is a member, fall under ICWA jurisdiction. The ICWA demands that such children be placed with parents who share that child’s culture—sometimes even overruling biological parents who choose non–Native American parents to adopt the child.
Gay and Lesbian Parents
If you’re gay or lesbian and seeking to adopt, consider the following:
- Does your state allow gay and lesbian parents to adopt?
- How gay-friendly is the agency or attorney with whom you’re working?
- If you or your partner already has a biological child, does your state allow second-parent adoption, meaning that both partners can be legal parents to the child?
- Are you comfortable being open about your sexuality during the adoption process?
Older-Child Adoption
Children older than age two have more difficulty finding adoptive parents than babies do. There’s tremendous need for parents willing to adopt adolescent and teenage children.
Sibling Groups
Many children available for adoption through the foster care system are part of a sibling group. Because these children have already suffered a great deal of loss, social workers hope to place siblings together or in homes where they can still maintain contact.
Children with Special Needs
Special-needs children have medical, emotional, behavioral, or physical issues that require special care. If you’re considering adopting a child with identified special needs, your child may be eligible for state subsidies and services. A special-needs child may have:
- A history of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse
- An identified learning disability
- An addiction to drugs (or exposure to drugs at birth)
- HIV
- A mental illness
- A physical disability
- Chronic health issues
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