As a hopeful parent or prospective birth mother, beginning the process of adoption in NC can seem daunting — but knowing what to expect can help.
As a licensed North Carolina adoption agency, A Child’s Hope will be with you through each of the steps to adoption, from your first phone call through finalization and beyond. Whether you are looking for information on how to adopt or place a baby for adoption in North Carolina, here’s how adoption works with A Child’s Hope:
- Learn more about the process for domestic adoption in N.C.
The first step for any hopeful parent or expectant mother considering adoption is to contact A Child’s Hope. Our friendly hotline operator will put you in touch with an adoption counselor near you, who can talk to you about your options and explain how to start the adoption process in North Carolina.
If you are facing an unplanned pregnancy and considering adoption for your baby, your adoption counselor will explain all of your options — not just adoption. She will give you all of the time and information you need to decide whether adoption is truly the best choice for you and your baby.
Hopeful adoptive parents will be invited to schedule an initial, no-obligation consultation. At this consultation, you will meet one-on-one with our agency director and learn more about the baby adoption process, adoption costs and our services, as well as other family-building options.
- Plan and prepare for the private adoption process.
If you decide that adoption is right for you, A Child’s Hope will help you prepare for the process of adoption in NC and provide the information and services you will need going forward.
For expectant mothers, this means continued contact with your adoption counselor, who will:
- talk to you about your adoption plan and your feelings toward the adoption
- help you determine what types of adoptive families you are looking for
- collect background information that will be used to find potential adoptive parents for your baby
- take you to prenatal appointments
- provide additional support and resources as you need them
- and more
During this stage in the adoption process, adoptive families will also work with an adoption counselor to ensure they are prepared to adopt. This includes:
- completing the adoption home study
- creating an adoption profile to be shown to expectant mothers
- attending required training
- and more
- Find an adoption opportunity.
When an expectant mother is ready to choose an adoptive family for her baby, A Child’s Hope will send some non-identifying information about the adoption opportunity to all of our pre-approved, waiting adoptive families in North Carolina.
As an adoptive family, you will have an opportunity to review this adoption situation and determine whether you think it is a good fit for your family. If so, your adoption profile will be sent to the prospective birth mother’s adoption counselor.
If you are considering adoption for your baby, your counselor will meet with you to deliver these waiting families’ profiles. You can review each hopeful family and select the perfect adoptive parents for your baby.
When you find a family you would like to learn more about, your adoption counselor will schedule a mediated match meeting at a restaurant near you. You will have an opportunity to get to know the adoptive family and determine whether you would like to move forward with the match.
- Meet the new baby.
When it is time for the baby to be born, the adoptive family and A Child’s Hope will follow the birth plan created by the prospective birth mother. This plan determines the details of the hospital stay, including the adoptive parents’ involvement at the hospital.
If you are placing your baby for adoption, your adoption counselor will guide you through the document-signing process at the hospital after your baby is born. Once the consents are signed, the baby can be discharged from the hospital to the adoptive family, or he or she may be placed in respite care during your seven-day revocation period.
- Attend placement day at A Child’s Hope’s office.
After the seven-day revocation period ends, the consent to the adoption becomes final, and the adoptive family, baby and birth parents will be invited to the agency’s office for placement day.
During placement day, the adoptive family will file all of the necessary paperwork to finalize the adoption in NC. Once this paperwork has been filed and all post-placement requirements have been satisfied, the legal adoption process is complete and a final adoption decree will be awarded.
- Continue your post-placement relationship.
Finalization may be the end of the legal adoption process, but it is just the beginning of your lifelong adoption journey. Today, most adoptive parents and birth families stay in touch for years to come through open or semi-open adoption. Whether you choose to exchange pictures and letters or communicate directly through phone calls, emails and visits, A Child’s Hope will be available to help you navigate your post-adoption relationship and provide any additional services or support you may need.
As a full-service adoption agency, A Child’s Hope can provide all of the services you need to complete the entire process of adoption in NC. For more information on how to go about adoption in North Carolina, please contact us today to get started.