I want to adopt.  Where do I start?

The first thing you will want to do is educate yourself about adoption. Child Welfare Information Gateway, a service of the Children’s Bureau, has comprehensive information regarding adoption on its website at http://www.childwelfare.gov/adoption. Child Welfare Information Gateway provides information, resources, and referrals for all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. The How to Adopt section on Child Welfare Information Gateway’s website at http://www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/adoptive/howto.cfm provides general information on how to begin the adoption process. 

Child Welfare Information Gateway’s website has a State-by-State list of public and licensed private agencies, as well as the name of each State Adoption Program Managers at http://www.childwelfare.gov/nfcad/index.cfm. How to Assess the Reputation of Licensed, Private Adoption Agencies provides criteria for checking on an agency’s reputation (http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/twenty.cfm).   

Requirements for prospective adoptive parents vary depending on the type of adoption and agency involved (if applicable). In the United States, agency criteria for prospective adoptive parents are often more restrictive for infant adoptions than for adoptions of older children, because fewer infants are available. Many agencies set age limits for   prospective adoptive parents in infant adoptions, and birth parents may choose younger parents in independent adoptions arranged without agency involvement. In intercountry adoption, each country sets requirements that prospective adoptive parents must meet in order to be eligible to adopt. Adoptions of older children and intercountry adoptions may offer more flexibility for older prospective adoptive parents.  Read Child Welfare Information Gateway’s publications Adoption Options: A Factsheet for Families at http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_adoptoption.cfm and Adoption Options at-a-Glance:  A Companion Guide for Families at http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/f_adoptoptionglance.cfm for more information on the adoption choices available to prospective adoptive parents. Information on country criteria for prospective adoptive parents in intercountry adoption is available in the Country-Specific International Adoption Fliers on the U.S. Department of State website at http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/country/country_369.html. Child Welfare Information Gateway provides additional information in the Intercountry Adoption section of the website at http://www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/types/intercountry/.