From International Adoption: How to Choose a Country:

2. Consider travel requirements.

Travel requirements can be a big issue in selecting a country for your international adoption. It is no small task to take several weeks off work, fly halfway around the world, and spend several weeks in another country. Travel requirements are definitely an issue... more

From International Adoption: How to Choose a Country:

1. Research parameters and eliminate countries.

The best way to begin the process of choosing a country for an international adoption is to eliminate those countries that are not options. Why waste your time looking into countries for which you are not qualified to adopt or that do not have what you are looking for?

This... more

You have decided that you want to adopt, and you know that you want to pursue an international adoption. The next step is to select a country. It was hard enough for me to choose a local adoption agency for a private domestic adoption: I would imagine that selecting a country for an international adoption could be overwhelming. How do you possibly decide from which country to adopt when you have just about the entire world from which to choose?

My husband and I briefly considered adopting... more

From Newborn Adoption: The First Week:

10. Prepare for emotional stress while the adoption could still fail.

The first week with a newborn is emotionally challenging even in the best of circumstances. Add to that first week the stress of knowing that you could “lose” the baby, and you have a potential landmine on your hands.

In many states, the placing mother’s parental rights do... more

From Newborn Adoption: The First Week:

9. Write letters to the placing mother.

If you are in an open or semi-open adoption, the agency or facilitator might ask you to write a letter to the placing mother during the period in which... more

From Newborn Adoption: The First Week:

8. Help the baby bond with you.

Even though your baby grew in your heart, he grew in another woman’s body. While he was in her body, he became accustomed to the sound of his placing mother’s voice as well as other sounds in her environment. Now that he has been born, nothing is familiar. This can be frightening for a helpless... more

From Newborn Adoption: The First Week:

7. Prepare for lots of contact with the adoption agency.

After I took physical custody of my son at two days old, I was in seemingly constant contact with the adoption agency. We were trying to work through the legal requirements for the Interstate Compact... more

From Newborn Adoption: The First Week:

6. Protect the baby during travel.

Many new parents choose to keep their new babies at home. They drive the baby home from the hospital with care, and then they do not bring the baby back out of the house except for required well visits. Most parents would never dream of traveling with a new baby.

If a baby joins your family through adoption, then you... more

From Newborn Adoption: The First Week:

5. Work out health insurance issues.

Health insurance coverage can be a little murky during an adopted baby’s first week of life. While you, as the adoptive parents, have physical custody, the placing mother retains her legal parental rights in many states. That raises the question of whether or not your health insurance will cover a baby who is in your care but... more

From Newborn Adoption: The First Week:

4. Anticipate sleep difficulties.

When I say anticipate sleep difficulties, I am not talking about the baby’s problems with sleep: I am talking about yours! This was something that I did not see coming. Yes, I knew that I would lose sleep by taking care of a baby throughout the night, but I did not understand the added issues that... more