A Child's Hope - Adoption Services in North Carolina
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Frequently Asked Questions for Adoptive Parents

We want to adopt. What are our options?

A. Independent Adoptions.
For those couples who have located a child that is available for adoption and who need legal services, our two North Carolina adoption family law attorneys offer assistance with independent adoptions. We also assist out-of-state attorneys and those who have adoption needs in North Carolina - obtaining consents for out-of-state placements and interstate compliance, as well as litigating and negotiating adoption issues. For biographical information on our two North Carolina attorneys click on our adoption attorneys and staff page in this website.

B. Agency Assisted Adoptions.
A Child's Hope offers domestic adoption services for parents who desire help in locating infants available for adoption. Through comprehensive yellow pages advertising in North Carolina and extensive contacts in the medical, legal and counseling community, we locate birthmothers who wish to entrust their children in our care for adoptive placement. To help reduce the costs of adoption, we focus on facilitating placements between North Carolina couples and North Carolina birthmothers. We also assist couples who wish to locate a child outside the state with advertising in other states.

C. Facilitators.
Facilitators assist biological parents in locating and evaluating prospective adoptive parents. They are not licensed to place children for adoption. In North Carolina, facilitators are not permitted to charge for their services. In other states, they are permitted to do so.

D. International Adoptions.
The Datz Foundation has over twelve years of experience in international adoptions. Working with sources abroad, the Foundation offers adoption opportunities for waiting children in five countries: Russia, Ukraine, Guatemala, Vietnam and China. Singles as well as couples may adopt abroad. International placements generally take approximately one year from the time of your application until a child is placed in your home. Children adopted from other countries are generally three to six months old at the time of placement. Adopting parents travel to the country of choice for placement and are guided by Datz affiliated sources within each country. For more detailed information on the wonderful adoption opportunites abroad, visit to the Datz Foundation website at http://www.datzfoundation.org or fill out the on-line requests for written materials in this web site on our Contact Us page.

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How do we get started with the adoption process?
All adoptive parents need a home study or preplacement assessment. It must be completed or updated within 18 months before the placement occurs. It must be prepared by any licensed child placement agency. The preplacement assessment must be based on at least one personal interview with each individual being assessed and must occur in the individual's residence. The preplacement assessment will address the following issues: 

  • Age and date of birth, nationality, race, or ethnicity, and any religious preference of the prospective parents;

  • Marital and family status and history, including the presence of any children born to or adopted by the individual and any other children in the household;

  • Physical and mental health, including any addiction to alcohol or drugs;

  • Educational and employment history and any special skills;

  • Property and income, and current financial information;

  • Reason for wanting to adopt;

  • Any previous request for an assessment or involvement in an adoptive placement and the outcome of the assessment or placement;

  • Whether the individual has ever been a respondent in a domestic violence proceeding or a proceeding concerning a minor who was allegedly abused, dependent, neglected, abandoned, or delinquent, and the outcome of the proceeding;

  • Whether the individual has ever been convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic violation;

  • Whether the individual has located a parent interested in placing a child with the individual for adoption, and a brief, nonidentifying description of the parent and the child; and
  • Any other fact or circumstance that may be relevant to a determination of the individual's suitability to be an adoptive parent, including the quality of the environment in the home and the functioning of any children in the household.

Preplacement assessments are usually completed within 90 days of receipt of a request. 

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How long does it take to adopt a child?
How long it takes to adopt a child depends upon a number of factors, including your preferences and the type of adoption you choose. Most adoptive parents find that they are successful in receiving a child for placement within one year.

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How much does is cost?
How much it costs to adopt a child also depends upon a number of factors including your preferences, the type of adoption you choose, the geographic location of the child, the financial circumstances of the birth mother, and the legal circumstances of the birth father. We are very frank about adoption costs and will be glad to the discuss your likely costs based upon your particular circumstances.

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What are the risks?
While we work very hard to minimize the risks associated with adoption, certain risks are inherent in the process. They include the risk that a birth parent will revoke their consent within the legal time period, the risk of loosing funds expended for expenses paid on to or on behalf of a birth mother and costs associated with adoption, and unknown health issues as the resulting of not having health history information from the father.

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What is an "open" adoption?
In the past, adoptions were always closed, meaning that birth parents and adoptive parents never met or had any information about each other. Now, you have a choice. Many people are choosing an "open" adoption arrangement. What it means is determined by the birth parents and adoptive parents by mutual agreement. For adoptive parents, it means the opportunity to meet your child's birth parents and to maintain contact afterward. While that prospect may be scary at first, many adoptive parents experience a change of heart. The amount of contact and the frequency and duration of the contact is determined by mutual consent. The choice is yours. Some couples and birth parents decide they wish to receive photographs and letters over time. Others choose to sever their ties after delivery.

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What about the father?
When faced with an unplanned pregnancy, there are always questions about the father's rights. 

  • Does a father have the right to parent his child? 
    Only if he does certain things to protect his rights as a parent. An unwed father must show his commitment to parenting before his parental interests are entitled to protection. 
  • Does an unwed father have the right to custody of his child? 
    No. Not automatically. He must acknowledge his paternity and take the necessary legal steps to establish his right to custody or visitation. 
  • Does an unwed father have to give his consent before his child can be placed for adoption? 
    No. Not automatically. He must do certain things to protect his interests as a parent.

 
   

Birthmothers call toll free:

1-877-890-HOPE (4673)

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