Private agency vs. state...

Tiffany0614

Hi everyone. I wanted to introduce myself. My DH and I have been TTC for 3 years now. We are currently undergoing infertility treatments. However, we've always known we also wanted to add to our family by adoption also. We just thought the adoption would come after we had a couple biological children. Once we found out about our IF issues, we decided, why wait? So we started the adoption process and our home study was approved in January. We're currently working with a local agency that places children who are currently placed with the state. In reading a lot of the posts her, it looks like a lot of people are doing private adoptions or are with private agencies. At this point, I don't think we could handle the IF treatments and a private agency financially. Do others who adopted through the state system have any advice? It seems that it's really difficult to find a child in our desired age range going this route.

Tiffany0614

We're actually not looking to adopt an infant. If that happens, that's great also! But we'd like to adopt a sibling group somewhere up to 5 or 6 years old. Although we do have fertility issues, we still believe we will be able to have children biologically. We're not looking to replace a would be child at all. I've always known I wanted to adopt, way before we discovered our fertility issues, which is only about a year ago. It's true that I did think we'd have biological children prior to adopting but I think that probably had to do with age being a factor in pregnancy and not so much with adoption. I'd love to have the experience of being pregnant and going through that with my husband. But mostly, we just want to be parents and give our children a safe, loving home and a great family!

MyColonyNJ

If you are looking to adopt a sibling group, I would totally check out adoptuskids.org

You can generally adopt children from any state, unless noted otherwise.  There are a lot of sibling groups on there.

firefightersgal

We plan to adopt privately, but through an attorney, which cuts the costs.  We are still planning to pay about $6000, but it is much less than through an agency.

ETA: I just read your second post.  We are going to adopt an infant.  Another option for you might be foster/adopt.

mommytoconnor

I adopted thru the state sytem.  My son was almost 4 months old when I brought him home and eventhough he was not yet legally free, I was able to bring him home and foster him until he became legally free which was approx 6 months later.  I adopted him one week after his first birthday.  I can tell you that adopting thru foster care is a very trying thing.  It is definately not for the faint of heart, You have to be dedicated and very patient.  If you want a sibling group and don't care about getting placed with an infant then you will have a much easier time getting a placement. There are so many kids in the system who need good parents.  I really commend you for choosing this route to add to your family.  I did it this way and have never regretted it.  My son is my everything and can't imagine life without him.  Good luck to you and feel free to PM me with any questions.