Adoption procedures...

Requirements

Each agency or social worker has its own set of requirements.

Phone the agency or social worker to get a brief set of requirements before you apply in writing.

This saves a lot of time and you will not feel so disappointed if your request is turned down early.

Examples of some requirements[b]

How long have you been married?

Are you within a certain age limit?

Do you belong to a certain religious group?

You may be asked to pay the maternity costs of birth mothers.

Are you generally healthy? At present there are possibilities for children to be placed with HIV parents.
Some agencies concentrate on mainly on the placement of certain categories of children - foundlings, healthy infants, older children, special needs children, HIV babies.

[b]Take the following into account when choosing an agency.

Credentials and qualifications of the social worker

They must be accredited to do adoptions.

The social worker will be required to work in a system in conjunction with other social workers once the new Social Work Act comes into force.

Usually one social worker is assigned to the birth family and another to the adoptive family.

Try to choose an agency that has a specialised adoptions department.

Ensure the agency has post-adoption facilities if you are undertaking a special needs adoption - an abused or neglected child or a disabled child.

Costs and fees

Ask what the fees are to be paid before proceeding. Tell the social worker what type of fees you would be able to pay.

Find out if the fees are negotiable. Pay no fees in advance. Never pay a lump sum up front for any services to anybody. This is an illegal practice which should be reported to the authorities.

Never pay birth parents directly in return for a baby. This is illegal and will cause you a great deal of pain.

Nobody is turned away from a department of welfare adoption agency because they are unable to pay any costs.

hen doing an adoption through a private social worker or certain agencies or organisations, you may be asked to pay for the hospitalisation fees of the birth mother and other expenses she may incur.

You may have to pay for hospitalisation expenses incurred by the baby too.

Helpful hints

Apply to more than one agency so you can explore the different services available.

Do not get discouraged if you are not accepted by the first few organisations to whom you apply.

They are honestly unable to meet your immediate needs and wish you to try another agency in order to cut down on your waiting period.

The adoption procedure can take some time. You have to be patient. Stay cheerful.

Try not to see the screening process as personally intrusive. The more information social workers have about you, the better they can match you perfectly with the child you are to adopt.

Make the waiting period a positive growth experience. It will be the last time in your life you will have uninterrupted conversation time!

Join an adoption support group during your screening and waiting period. Meet others in the same position and gain knowledge and find answers to the questions which are of concern to you.

Get onto the mailing list of a support group which has a newsletter to keep you abreast of adoption trends and developments.

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Dooi are you looking into adopting?

Thanks Dooi. Useful info!

Maybe mods can make this a sticky??

Pleasure... jip, you know what happend last night.... so me and Dh decided to leave the ttc thingy till end of the year. Last night while we're droving to the "bybel studie" at our bosses house, he said if all goes well with his new work, we must adopt.

And I say, what about another 2 rounds of IUI? And he said NO! He don't want to pay any more money for nothing, he will be MORE than happy to adopt.

Well, I told him I will have a look at agencies etc today. Just got back from the church (went there to go pick up tickets for the bazaar on Friday night) and they gave me the number of the girl who's working at church with adoption etc.

I gave DH a call with the info, and he is soooo happy, but I can only speak to her tomorrow. Maybe this is what we needed from the start, maybe, just maybe, this is why I haven't got preggers yet, maybe it's the path that's been laid out for us, to adopt.

I don't know, will speak to the lady tomorrow and then update you girlies.

Wanted to adopt a while ago, but wasn't 100% sure, now... I'm over the moon, can't WAIT for the news!!!

Oh Dooi keep us posted! I'm always happy for you!

... thanks girlie, will definately do so!

Well I really hope your path wouldn't be so bumpy a mine.

Good luck.

THanks girlie... Good luck to you and DH too!
x

Thanks, at the moment it feels like I need a big miracle.

Wow Dooi, this is SO exciting - congrats on this all important decision!

Please pm me if you want some info / discuss this...

Keeping you in our prayers - adoption is the most awesome thing in the world! After all, we've got a gorgeous little girl

xxx