On average wait times to be matched are between 6-18 months, but this varies based on comfort levels and the types of situations that match your criteria.

• adoption professional service fees
• outreach and education networking to locate potential birth parent clients
• home study fees
• birth parent expenses
• legal fees
• travel expenses

A home study is a pre-placement assessment of the prospective adoptive family, required for adoptive parents, conducted by an agency caseworker to determine that a family is suitable for the adoption of a child. The home study will include several meetings with the caseworker, including one in your home, as well as domestic adoption education requirements to educate you about adoption and prepare you for parenting an adopted child.

During the home study, these are some of the things that you will be asked about and required to provide:

• personal and family background, and your own social history
• significant people in your lives
• family and home environment
• physical and health history
• motivation to adopt
• expectations for the child, parenting skills
• understanding of adoption, educating children about their adoption
• education, employment, and finances including insurance coverage and childcare plan
• personal references and criminal background clearances

There is currently a Federal Tax Credit available for most domestic adoptions. You can learn more about the federal tax credit eligibility and benefits through the IRS website. There are also a growing number of companies which offer adoption reimbursement, which will help cover the cost of your adoption. Check with your employer to find out if your company offers such benefits. There are also many grant organizations and fundraising opportunities available. Check out the Resources tab above.

As part of the process working with an agency, Heart Of Adoptions Alliance, Inc. will obtain as much information as possible about the birth parents’ health history, ethnicity, and social background. We also seek a release from the birth mother to obtain her prenatal medical records, if available. We will share all information obtained with the prospective adoptive parents, as well as information received from the hospital regarding delivery and newborn medical care.

There are many different variables, but our statistics show most birth mothers who have placed their children with our adoptive families are between 19 and 35 years of age, are single parents to one or more children, and they know the realities of parenting and are more likely to go through with an adoption plan. They often are exposing their unborn child to various drugs as well as many have had traumatic histories such as being raised in foster homes, abusive relationships, or legal issues. Teenagers sometimes consider adoption; however, many
choose parenting or abortion, and some are not mature enough to go through with an adoption plan.

An open adoption is an adoption where identifying information such as full names, addresses, and/or telephone numbers are exchanged between the adoptive family and the birth parents. There is direct contact between the birth and adoptive family which may include phone calls, text messages, and visits.

With a semi-open adoption, there is no identifying information exchanged between the adoptive family and the birth parents. There is however, the possibility that one or all of the following could occur, the adoptive family could meet the birth parent in person before or after the placement, conference calls could be set up through our offices to facilitate conversations, and/or letters and pictures could be exchanged through our offices for up to 18 years after the adoption takes place. This is far and away the most popular type of post placement communication.

A closed adoption is the least common format requested by birth parents. Closed adoptions offer no correspondence between the adoptive family and the birth parents, and no identifying information is exchanged. Since this happens only infrequently, we do not recommend this type of adoption to adoptive families and restrictions here could significantly prolong wait times.

Adoption is a permanent plan. Under Florida law, a consent for adoption signed for a child six months or younger is binding and irrevocable unless it can be proven in court the consent was obtained by fraud or duress. Regarding a consent for adoption signed after the child has attained six months of age, the consent for adoption may be revoked up to three business days after signing. The legal process is carefully monitored to provide a secure placement.