I am a newbie to this board but DH and I will more than likely be pursuing adoption in the future. I have read through quite a few of the posts here and where people are in their adoption journeys. I haven't read anything about anyone adopting through DSS that I could tell. Is there a reason for this? I am certainly not calling anyone out, just wondering if there was a reason it might be less common (such as a more difficult process maybe). I would love to hear from anyone who has adopted through DSS. We are hoping to adopt a younger child at least as of now, preferably under a year if it makes a difference.
Re: Adopting through DSS?
There are a lot of older children waiting to be adopted through states for various reasons, but not young ones unless they are part of a sibling group or have significant health issues.
After all of our research, we have actually decided to pursue foster parenting, but not with the aim to adopt though we are open to that possibility.
We are adopting through DCF in MA. Our boys age 4 and 2 came to us in Dec, and we hope to finalize in June.
Adoption from foster care can be an amazing experience, but it is certainly not an easy road. I will tell you adopting a child under 1 year will be hard and less likely, unless you are open to special needs or very high legal risk. There are cases of voluntary surrenders, baby safe haven etc but they are not that common. Most parents are given 13 months to get their act together for reunification. We initially were looking to adopt 1 child under 18 mos, but changed our parameters to two children under 5. The more open you are, the more likely you will have a placement. Good luck to you!!
Yes, this, I'm sorry. We have a family friend who adopted siblings this way and she always says "through DSS" so it's in my head that way.