How to Adopt in 2025
Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care
01/08/25
•51m
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Are you considering adopting a child this year? We've got answers to all (or most) of your questions. Join our discussion with Teresa Bernu, the Executive Director at Adoption Center of Illinois. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has worked extensively in the areas of domestic infant adoption, foster care, and guardianship. We will also talk with Steve Valdez, the Chief Operating Officer at Hand in Hand International Adoptions. He holds a Master of Divinity and an M.A. in Psychology. He’s an adopted dad of 5 kids through foster care adoption.
In this episode, we discuss:
Domestic infant private adoption in the US
- What is the process?
- What are the reasons that pregnant moms are placing their children for adoption?
- Matching-Expectant parent choice
- The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)
- Open adoption
- Special needs of children available
- How long does it take? What factors influence this time?
- How much does it cost? What factors influence this cost?
- How do failed matches when an expectant mom decides to parent rather than go through with an adoption plan impact the cost of domestic adoption?
- Adoption agency and adoption attorney
- What is the first step prospective adoptive parents should take if they are interested in adopting a baby?
Adoptions from foster care in the US
- What is the process?
- Adopting your foster child
- Adopting a waiting child
- What are the reasons that children come into foster care in the US?
- What age and race of child is available for adoption from foster care?
- Special needs? Trauma, prenatal substance exposure
- How long does it take?
- How much does it cost?
- What is the first step prospective adoptive parents should take if they are interested in adopting from foster care?
International adoptions to the US
- What is the process?
- What types of special needs do children available for adoption from abroad have?
- How long does it take? What factors influence this time?
- How much does it cost? What factors influence this cost?
- What is the first step prospective adoptive parents should take if they are interested in adopting internationally?
Additional resources:
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
Previous Episode
Should I Foster a Younger Child or Teen First? - Weekend Wisdom
January 4, 2025
•4m
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Question: My husband and I are licensed to foster/adopt, but there have been no placements yet. We initially thought our age preference was 2-6 year olds, but as we have gotten more information/education we think we may be a good home for teenagers. We have no children (adopted/fostered/biological) between us but this also means we have no one else in the home at this time. We are still interested in fostering (and adopting should the opportunity arise) younger children as well at some point. My question is would it be "better" for us to start with teens and move to younger children after the teens have left our home (for college, work, general adulthood independence) or would we be better prepared for teens after having younger children first?
Resources:
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
Next Episode
Should We Adopt Again? - Weekend Wisdom
January 11, 2025
•5m
Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!
Question: My husband and I adopted our now seven-year-old son from South Africa two years ago. He is the best. We cannot believe how lucky we are to have this joyful little boy in our family, and we owe much of our success to what we've learned from your show and resources, so thank you. Although our son feels pretty easy compared to some of the challenges we hear about, he still requires a lot. A lot of time, patience, energy, school appointments, doctor's appointments, therapy appointments, etc. In any case, we are now considering whether to embark on a second adoption of an older child three to six years old from South Africa. While I see a lot of resources for preparing siblings and managing birth order disruptions, which is not the case for us, we are wondering what parents of adopted kids should consider when deciding whether to adopt another child. For example, is it better for our son to have all of the resources, meaning time, patience, energy, et cetera, and stability we can provide an only child given his needs and the fact that he was adopted later? Should we expect more of the same with a second child or are there different challenges to raising new siblings who both have trauma? What should we be aware of or thinking about when making this decision?
Resources:
Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:
- Weekly podcasts
- Weekly articles/blog posts
- Resource pages on all aspects of family building
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