New here - Where to get basic info on adoption? (birth, foster care)

[kandghousehunt]

Me and my husband are very seriously considering adoption for once we are ready to have children. We are both in our mid 20's now and would like to start our family around the age of 30. I teach and he is an electrical engineer, we live in Houston and plan on purchasing a home this summer.
We are fine adopting internationally or domestically, but do want to adopt a fairly young child, maybe siblings.
I know that the adoption process can sometimes take quite a while, and I am hoping we could be well informed so once we start the process we know what we are doing.

There is just soooo much information out there, I don't even know where to start.
Can anyone give any suggestions for good books, blogs, agencies or even just websites where we can start gathering information?

[cjmeck]

We adopted our daughter from birth 7 years ago (domestic newborn) and I remember being where you are; where do we even start? We started by reading, lots of reading; online and books. Just educating ourselves on the different types of adoption. I believe a helpful book was called "The Complete Adoption Book" or something like that. When you close your eyes and picture your future child, what do you see? If siblings are something you are considering then adopting through the foster care system is where you'll find them.

[CraigCreek]

You can also adopt siblings internationally. Such children are considered "special needs", as are children over five or so, solely due to being part of a sibling group or because of age - they may have no other special need at all. In addition, many children listed for adoption internationally are classed as having special needs which are very treatable and would not be considered significant at all in this country.

Other children listed do have significant special needs, and as a result, no future in their native countries. Tragically, children with physical, emotional, or intellectual special needs are all too often lumped together and sent to remote and poorly funded and supervised mental institutions at the age of (typically) four, seven, or sixteen, to remain there the rest of their lives, receiving little or no special medical treatment or education. Many die in such places, which are notoriously found in many countries in Eastern Europe...

While "typical" children age out at sixteen or seventeen, and are on their own with very, very few resources, in the same parts of the world. Children over the age of sixteen cannot be internationally adopted into the United States unless they are part of a sibling group including younger children. There are many available delightful and deserving young teens who are yearning for loving adoptive families, and who would make wonderful daughters and sons. The same can be said for teens in this country, although their futures are not quite as grim - still, the lack of a family leads to loneliness, depression, and increased vulnerability to all kinds of illegal activities, both here and abroad.

I agree, read, read, read! And do check the publication dates of the books - things can change radically and quickly in the adoption world.

Check with your state's foster care program to see what is required to foster or adopt. Educate yourself about issues which are sometimes encountered in adoption and how to deal with them. Look for adoption fairs - often foster care programs or churches offer them Adoption agencies can be very helpful in clarifying what is required, and there are social workers who specialize in home studies.

If you are open to adopting a child or children with special needs (which can be very, very mild), your adoption may move much faster.

Good luck in creating your family. Adoption can be a blessing for everyone concerned, but it can be very complicated as well, and there are many things to consider before committing to adopt: open adoption? Semi-open? Age(s)? Domestic? International? Foster to adopt? Special needs? Sibling groups? and so on. So, educate yourselves, find the answers to these questions, remain as flexible as possible - surprises are guaranteed in adoption - and remain optimistic.

[kaelti12]

Thank you, I hadn't even considered making sure that any books I looked at were current, the laws seem to change so often.

(I am the orginal OP...I forgot that I was still logged in with account my husband has been using to ask questions for our home buying process)