Adoption in Kansas, Explained by People Who’ve Been Doing It Here Since 1998
Search “adoption in Kansas” and you’ll find plenty of websites. Some belong to national organizations that treat Kansas as one state on a very long list. Some belong to people who can’t legally help with placing a child here at all.
Kansas is home for us. Adoption & Beyond opened its doors in Kansas in 1998, and we’ve been licensed here ever since. We serve the entire state, from the Kansas City metro to Wichita, Salina, Pittsburg, and out to Western Kansas. We’re licensed in Missouri too, so families on either side of the state line get the same agency, with no handoffs.
You’re probably here for one of two reasons. Let’s sort that out first.
If You Are Pregnant and Considering Adoption
Nothing on this page commits you to anything. Not a phone call, not a form, not a decision.
Everything we provide to expecting parents in Kansas is free. Counseling. Help understanding adoption and every other option, including parenting. Material assistance. Someone with you at the hospital if you want that. Support that continues long after placement, not just until the paperwork is inked with signatures.
You choose the family. You choose how much ongoing contact you want. You can change your mind about anything along the way.
If You Want to Adopt
You need a home study. That’s true in all fifty states, and there’s no way around it, so let’s not pretend otherwise. What varies enormously is how much the process costs you in sanity.
We’re licensed to complete home studies in Kansas for domestic, international, private, embryo, and foster care adoptions. We typically finish our portion of the home study process in about 30-60 days. We publish all of our fees on our website, because you shouldn’t have to schedule a call to find out what something costs.
What Kansas Adoption Actually Involves
Kansas handles adoptions through its district courts, which work differently from Missouri’s circuit courts. That matters if you live near the state line and half your paperwork is on the other side of it.
If you live in Kansas, you need a Kansas-licensed provider for your home study. Not a Missouri one. Not a national organization with a Kansas-sounding name. Ask any professional you talk to for their license number and licensing state. In case you are wondering, our Kansas license is #36622-4.
Steps, in order, without the fluff
- Home study. A licensed provider assesses your family and writes a report. Your home study has to be approved before a child can be placed with you. We typically complete our portion of the home study process in about 30-60 days.
- Waiting and matching. If you’re working through a full-service program, this is the stretch with no deadline attached to it, which is the hardest part for most families. Nobody can tell you how long it lasts.
- Placement. In Kansas, a birth mother can’t sign her consent or relinquishment until at least 12 hours after her baby is born. That’s the legal minimum, not a deadline, and nobody here is going to rush her toward it.
- Filing with the court. Your attorney files the adoption petition with the district court. The consents, your child’s background history, and a detailed accounting of every adoption expense are filed along with it. The court then sets a hearing date within 60 days. Unlike Missouri, most Kansas private infant adoptions don’t involve a guardian ad litem.
- Post-supervision visits. Your caseworker visits your home once a month until your adoption is final.
- Finalization. A short hearing where the judge reviews your home study report, post-supervision reports and the expense accounting, then signs the decree. Most of our Kansas adoptions finalize within 30 to 60 days of placement. It’s a happy day for the adoptive family.
- New birth certificate. The decree goes to the Kansas Office of Vital Statistics, the original birth certificate is sealed, and a new one is issued naming you as your child’s parents.
If you live in one state and your child is born in another, add the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) to this list. It’s a required approval before you can travel home, and it’s the most common reason placements take longer than families expect.
The Part Where Most Pages Get Vague About Money
Adoption costs money. Domestic infant adoption in particular costs real money. Most agencies make you call or request an information packet before they’ll tell you what that money is, and many charge piece by piece as you go. Our fees are published, flat, and itemized, so you can plan and budget from day one.
Our Kansas Team
Adoption is a relationship business dressed up as a paperwork business. So here’s who you’d actually work with.
Kelly Ware, LBSW, covers the Kansas City metro on both sides of the state line, southeast Kansas down to Pittsburg, and out to Fort Riley.
Shawna Super, LBSW, covers the northern Kansas City metro and out to Fort Riley.
Alisa Norlin, LSCSW, covers Wichita, Salina, and Western Kansas.
Alivia Teague, BA, our adoption coordinator, works with birth and adoptive families across Kansas and Missouri.
Steffany Aye, LSCSW, LCSW, founded the agency in 1998, is an adoptive parent herself, and does a little of a lot around here.
Why Families Choose Us Over a National Agency
We’ve served over 8,000 families and completed over 7,000 home studies since 1998. We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit, Hague accredited, and we still answer our own phones.
FAQ
Are you licensed in Kansas?
Do you serve all of Kansas or just Kansas City?
Do I have to drive to your Overland Park office?
Can you complete my home study if I’m already matched or working with another professional?
How long does a Kansas home study take?
How long after placement is a Kansas adoption final?
Last reviewed: October 2026
