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Q. Does Adoption & Beyond provide Agency Adoption Services?
A. Yes. Adoption & Beyond advertises and networks with area resources in an effort to provide services to birth parents who are considering an adoption plan for their child. We work with the birth mother (birth father also, if involved) and adoptive family by providing adoption education, counseling and support. We work with birth and adoptive parents during the prenatal period, labor/delivery time, and the post partum period.
Q. Does Adoption & Beyond help with Private Adoptive Placements?
A. Yes. Adoption & Beyond frequently becomes involved in these types of adoptions. Many courts require that an agency or adoption professional work with the prospective birth parents, adoptive parents and attorney's in order to coordinate an adoption plan. We work with the birth and adoptive parents in the same way we do in an agency adoption.
Q. Does Adoption & Beyond Provide International Adoption Services?
A. Yes. Adoption & Beyond is able to assist you in selecting which foreign country will best suit your desire and needs. Adoption & Beyond networks with a number of agencies who have orphanages oversees and will work closely with your selected country and agency, in order to serve as the local liaison to complete the international home study, assist with the foreign country and U.S. immigration documents and to provide post-adoption supervision.
Q. Will Adoption & Beyond help facilitate an Independent Foreign Adoption?
A. Yes. An Independent Foreign Adoption occurs when the adoptive family has their own child identified within a particular foreign country. In that case, we provide Home Study and Post-adoption services.
Additionally, we provide help in preparing your international country and/or U.S. Immigration documents, Interstate Compact work (if necessary) and other similar services.
Q. What are "Home Study" and "Post-Adoption Services"?
A. Home Study Services - At the first meeting, an adoption professional will meet informally with you to get to know you better with discussion centering on your desires to adopt and the paperwork required for the adoption process. The paperwork involves sharing your background, marriage (if you are married), financial and other relevant information required by the state. Upon completion of the home study paperwork, a home visit is scheduled in order to verify that your home has plenty of room and is a safe environment for a child to reside. This study is then written and prepared for the court's review.
After the approved home study is completed it is valid for one year. If more than one year passes before a child is placed or you have adopted and are ready to adopt again, your Home Study will need to be updated. This "update" involves a recheck to see what has changed in your home, job, relationships, etc. Such changes need to be documented. There is a fee associated with this service which less than half of the original Home Study fee.
Post-Placement Services - After a child is placed in your home, a series of visits by adoption professional are required. These are state and/or country mandated visits in order to supervise your placement, in which we offer advice and support as you transition your child into their new home. All states and countries have their own requirements regarding the number of post-placement visits needed.
Q. What will the birth parents know about our situation?
A. Birth parents select the adoptive family with whom they would like for their child to be placed. Once a birth parent has let us know what they seek in a couple to parent their child, we present adoptive parent profiles to them. Adoptive parents will complete this profile during, or just after, the Home Study process.
Q. What information will we know about the birth parent(s)?
A. We obtain as thorough a medical history as we can from both birth families. We ask them everything from their eye and hair color to their parents' height, weight and health status. This information is given to you prior to or at the time of adoptive placement in written form, or as soon as it is available thereafter. It must be kept in mind, however, that the information given to you is only as reliable and accurate as the individual from whom we gather it.
Q. Can we correspond and/or visit with the birth mother beyond the placement of a child with us?
A. We do encourage correspondence beyond placement. We request adoptive families to submit photos of their child and updates monthly, up to one year after placement. With the photos families usually send a letter to the birth parent(s) giving them an update on how the child is doing.
If the birth and adoptive families have exchanged identifying information with each other, then future contact and correspondence can take place directly between the parties.
Q. What about legal fees and court costs?
A. Legal fees for the adoptive and birth family are not included in Adoption & Beyond's fees and are the responsibility of the adopting parents. Legal fees can vary widely, depending on the locale and circumstances surrounding your particular adoption case in question.
Q. How are the medical costs for prenatal care, labor and delivery charges, and postpartum care of mother and child paid?
A. Medical expenses are not covered in Adoption & Beyond's fees. Often, birth-related medical expenses are covered by public funding sources (Medicaid, etc.) or by the birth mother's private insurance. Even in cases where public or private insurance is available, it may not cover all of the expenses. In these cases, expenses can total $1,500 to $3,000.
When the birth mother has no private insurance and is ineligible for public assistance, the birth-related hospital and physician charges can total $3,000 - $8,000.
Q. When is pre-adoptive care necessary for a prospective adoptive child?
A. Pre-adoptive care is typically required when a birth mother resides in Jackson County, Missouri. The amount of time needed for pre-adoptive care is guided in part by the time it takes to complete the legal work necessary prior to the child entering your home. The circumstances surrounding the birth father and his availability may also affect how long pre-adoptive care is required.
Legal risk placement with the prospective adoptive parents is possible in many situations, if desired by the parties. Our goal is to place each child in their home as quickly as possible.
"Our" pre-adoptive care providers are both Adoption & Beyond and state-approved homes. They are families who have a strong desire or calling to care for little ones during this transition time. Most are "stay-at-home" moms who only care for one baby at a time.
Q. What if the birth mother or father attempted to reclaim a child after placement has occurred?
A. It should first be noted that this has never occurred in Adoption & Beyond's history despite the many placements we have helped make possible. Adoption & Beyond works as closely as possible with each prospective birth parent in order to make sure that the decision they are making is made freely, without pressure, and with assuredness. Once a placement has occurred and a birth parent were to attempt to reclaim, a legal process would ensue.
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