Mind if I join you?
DH and I have a 4 year old DD. I was adopted and have always wanted to adopt a child. DH and I have been talking about adopting our next child. We were getting some info on the internet about adoption. I looks like the three main options we have a international, domesic, or fostercare. DH and I have dicussed the possibility of adopting a special needs child. I think right now our prefrence would be to adopt an infant with down syndrome. We are still in the planning stage though. We haven't really looked into agencies just the adoption process itself. Does anyone have experience with adopting a special needs child? Are there any agencies that you know of that specialize in domestic adoption for infants with down syndrome? I've heard of Reece's rainbow but I think they are for international adoptions. We aren't closed off to international adoption but are much for familiar with domestic adoptions so I would say that's our prefrence for now. I'm really interested in any advice/ guidance you ladies are willing to share.
Re: Mind if I join you?
Welcome!
My DH and I are adopting from Korea and are open to some special needs. I don't know much about domestic SN adoption, but Korea places quite a few SN children in the US. Holt International has photolistings of waiting children on their website. I have seen a couple of Down's Syndrome children listed there. They are great agency and have been placing children for decades.
Best wishes. The ladies here are a wealth of knowlege, so I'm sure someone will chime in with domestic adoption info.
I'm not sure about agencies that specialize in domestic special needs adoptions, but I have heard of a few international programs that only place special needs children.
The term "special needs" in adoption generally refers to any condition that would make the child harder to place, including everything from being an "older child," to having past abuse/neglect/trauma, to having a learning disability, to having a medical need, and everything in between. Since the term is used so broadly, it's hard to compare unless you start talking about specific needs.
My son, for example was an "older child" (7/8), who needed cardiac surgery, and has suffered a failed adoption and past abuse and neglect. While I can talk to you about the difficulties of trying to bond with a child while living in a hospital and carting him around to numerous doctors and therapy appointments, I'm sure my experience would be drastically different from that of a family who adopted a child with Downs. If you are seriously considering that specific syndrome, I highly recommend you talk with other families that have gone that route.
Good luck, and welcome! I look forward to hearing more from you as you find your path.