Preparation & Research
→Attend an Orientation
We are licensed to help people located in Northern California pursue adopting a newborn baby. Get all of your questions answered about domestic, open adoption, and decide if it’s right for you.
→ Complete an Adoption Homestudy
An adoption homestudy by a licensed adoption agency, like Adoption Connection, is required by law.
Northern California residents: learn more about the homestudy process.
→Choose a Professional to Help You Connect with a Birthmother
Decide on who will conduct represent you to expectant parents considering adoption. This service is called Birthmother Outreach. And you can work with another adoption agency, and adoption attorney, facilitator or consultant to find you a placement.
Outreach & Waiting
Craft your introduction to a prospective birthmother so that she can learn more about your unique family and get to know you. Parent Profiles can be digital or printed, custom brochures.
→ Complete Adoption Education
Our popular Preparation for Open Adoption Workshop is required for all homestudy clients, and is an important way to learn more about the open adoption process.
→ Wait for an Adoption Match
The hard part! Your Birthmother Outreach professional will make it easy for expectant women considering adoption to find you. Wait times vary, but most adoptive parents welcome a baby into their home between 18 to 24 months after completing their parent profile.
Making an Adoption Plan
→Match with an Expectant Parent
Get to know a prospective birthmother who has seen your parent profile and expresses interest in learning more about you. You are considered “matched” when you and the expectant parent(s) officially choose each other and decide to move forward to create an adoption plan together.
→Make Hospital Plans and Develop a Contact Agreement
Your adoption caseworker will guide you and the prospective birthmother to make all the necessary decisions in preparation for the baby’s arrival including completion of a legally binding contact agreement for the future.
Time for Baby
→ Birth and Going Home with Your Baby
Typically the adoptive family is at the hospital during the delivery or soon thereafter – some adoptive families are in the delivery room too. Usually the baby goes directly home with you. Birthmothers sign documents to voluntarily and legally terminate their parental rights after the baby is born. Legal requirements and timelines vary from state to state.
→Post Placement Visits
Meet with the social worker who completed your homestudy for monthly post-placement visits, required by law, before the adoption is officially finalized. In California, this is usually around six to seven months.
→Legal Finalization of Your Baby’s Adoption!
Once the required information is filed with the court, you will appear before a judge to legally finalize your baby’s adoption.
→Stay Connected
Stay in touch with your baby’s birthparent(s) and share how well your baby is doing. You can also stay in touch with Adoption Connection, join us at our annual family picnic to meet other adoptive families and birth families, and receive parenting support through our partner program, Parents Place.
Adoption Connection Is Here For You Every Step Of The Way
Interested in Adopting and Live in Northern California?
