The adoption journey is often filled with expectation and hope, but there are also times of uncertainty. We encourage you to let God remain in control of the situation and pay attention to His voice during your adoption process. Trust that the Lord will use this time to shape you into the parents you need to be for a specific child. With adoption, a birth mother has the opportunity to find a permanent, loving adoptive family for her child.
The better prepared you and spouse are, the more ready you’ll feel to navigate the realm of adoption. Today, we’re sharing five tips which will get you ready for infant adoption!
1. Choose the Right Adoption Professional
To make your adoption as possible, you’ll need to hire the right professionals, such as an agency or lawyer. Working with an adoption professional comes with many benefits. One of these benefits is that it saves you from being scammed.
In the most common type of adoption scam, a woman will pretend to be pregnant to get money from you. Once she obtains your money, she disappears. By relying on the experience of a licensed and qualified agency, you can avoid this scenario. Get tips on how to choose the right Christian adoption professional in this article: “5 Ways to Find a Reputable Christian Adoption Professional.”
2. Keep Your Expectations in Check
You might have a long list of what you want in your adoption, but some may be restrictive to your success. For example, the chance that you will obtain medical records from both birth parents is slim. But if you’re hoping for a healthy birth mother, that expectation is very attainable.
If you insist on only a newborn baby girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, you might find your adoption wait could take a long time. And ethical adoption professionals will share that they can’t guarantee this kind of request. Be realistic with what you must have and what you would like in your adoption wants and needs.
3. Research Ways to Make Your Adoption Affordable
There’s no doubt about it, domestic adoption is expensive. Adoption expenses include fees for legal representation, home studies, agency fees, and travel. You may be wondering, “So, how can we afford adoption?”
Getting creative is the key to affording adoption. Adoption loans, grants, and fundraising will all help you afford adoption, as well as the adoption tax credit and employee adoption benefits. Visit AdoptionFinancingInformation.com to learn more about these options. The more research you do, the better you will be at finding the money for your adoption.
4. Learn All You Can
Spend a set amount of time each week to learning more about adoption. It’s vital that you take the time — it’s the key to your success in adoption. Listening to adoption webinars will help you understand the various aspects of Christian adoption. The beauty of webinars is that you can tune in from wherever you are, whether that’s your morning commute or while you work out at the gym. Visit AdoptionWebinar.com to get answers from adoption experts as well as tips from people recently touched by adoption.
Another way to learn more about the details you should know along a path to adoption is through books. Make sure to check out the best-selling Christian adoption book, Called to Adoption, if you haven’t already. You can download a free digital copy here.
Make sure to read or listen actively — not passively. As you do, ask yourself: “How can I apply this to our adoption?” Take notes as you do. If you don’t apply what you learn, the information in the book will stay in the book and you won’t benefit.
5. Take Time to Grieve Infertility
If you’ve faced infertility, it’s important to take the time you need to work through grief before you adopt. If you rush into adopting after fertility treatments, you risk sabotaging your adoption. Worse yet, you risk treating your adopted child as second best to the son or daughter you might have had. Seek counseling if you need to. By doing so, you’re ensuring that you’re both as emotionally healthy as possible and ready to grow your family through adoption.
Lifetime Christian Adoption is here to help you prayerfully during your path to parenthood. As a Christian adoption agency, we’re not just faith-based; we’re Christ-centered too. From the person who processed your application to those helping birth mothers, our adoption staff are believers. Many hopeful adoptive parents have found it encouraging to know they’re working with people who share their values and faith. You can trust Lifetime to work for you while respecting the God-given call upon your life to discover the baby meant for you!
We’d love to help you answer God’s call to adoption!
Get started today by completing Lifetime’s free online application.
Get started today by completing Lifetime’s free online application.
