Domestic Infant Adoption:

Adopting a Baby within the United States
If you’re interested in adopting a baby in the United States, you’re looking for information about Domestic Infant Adoption. A Domestic Infant Adoption is the adoption of a baby born within the United States by a family that lives in the United States. Domestic infant adoptions occur when a birth parent legally consents to an adoptive placement and an adoptive family is prepared to care for the child as their legal parents.

Open Adoption and Domestic Infant Adoption
Most of the domestic infant adoptions that occur today feature some degree of openness. This means the birth parents who agree to the adoption of the child have ongoing contact with the child and adoptive family as the child grows older. Open adoption relationships are negotiated through enforceable contracts known as post-placement contact agreements. The opposite of an open adoption is known as a “closed adoption”. Closed adoptions have fallen out of favor in recent decades because most behavioral experts agree that maintaining an open relationship between adoptive and birth families is best for adoptees and their first families.

Who Can Adopt?
Families from every background can adopt an infant in the United States. We work with families of every race, religion, ethnicity, gender identity and sexual orientation. We work closely with the Human Rights Campaign’s All Children, All Families Campaign to ensure we provide a welcoming environment to LGBTQ couples and individuals seeking to expand their families through adoption. Read more about LGBTQ adoption and single parent adoption.

How Long Does it Take to Adopt?
Your adoption wait time will vary depending on factors like your openness to risk factors (such as prenatal substance exposure, unknown family medical history, etc). There are several things you can do to ensure your family is as visible to potential birth families as possible. These include maintaining an adoption website that gives visitors a sneak peak into your life, making sure your profile book is up to date and visually appealing, and staying in regular contact with your adoption social worker. We ask that our families prepare for a wait time of 12-24 months, but this can vary depending on the factors outlined above.