What is Domestic Infant Adoption with Lifetime?

Domestic infant adoptions are very common, especially in open adoption. At Lifetime, we present expectant mothers with adoptive families open to adopting their babies so they can choose the parents and get to know them during the pregnancy. At times, we have last minute adoptions. This means we get a call from the birth mother at the hospital who has just given birth and has decided to place her baby for adoption. When this happens, the adoptive family will get a call and be asked to head to the hospital right away. Quite an exciting time, as you can imagine!

Laws differ by state but generally, in domestic infant adoption, the baby is released from the hospital into the adoptive parents’ care. The birth mother usually meets with an attorney shortly after, to sign the adoption papers. If you are the new adoptive family and are adopting from a different state than the one you live in, you will have to follow any ICPC (Interstate Compact Agreement) laws, prior to traveling home. Once home, you will have post-placement visits from your home study social worker prior to the adoption finalizing. As the laws are different in each state, your adoption coordinator and adoption attorney will give you the specifics for your state and explain the legal requirements.

Becoming A Parent Through a Domestic Infant Adoption

At Lifetime Adoption, we feel it is important for adoptive parents to have the opportunity to experience their child’s life from the beginning and begin bonding as soon as possible. The opportunity to be there when your baby is born or soon after, is one of the advantages of domestic infant adoption as compared with international adoption.

Another benefit of domestic adoption is that open adoption has become the most popular form of adoption. This is a benefit for everyone involved in the adoption. The birth parents have peace of mind, knowing they can get updates and know that their child is happy and thriving. The adoptive parents have access to medical and family history as well as genetic information. Most importantly, it has been proven that children who understand why they were placed for adoption and have knowledge of their birth parents have a better sense of self-worth and more confident in who they are.

Infants Placed For Adoption

You will find birth mothers all have their own unique stories. What they all have in common is they love their baby enough to experience the heartache of placing their baby for adoption so their child can have a wonderful life.

When being matched with a birth mother, it is important that you all agree on what type and amount of contact there will be after the adoption. Your adoption coordinator will help make sure everyone is on the same page. There are birth mothers who just want an update once a year and an occasional picture, and there are birth mothers who want monthly updates and visits once a year.

It is important for all parties to be somewhat flexible with these after adoption contact agreements as people’s feelings and situations change over time. At Lifetime we see birth families and adoptive families who have grown into a version of an extended family, and we have birth mothers who prefer to keep their distance. There is no right or wrong. It is just important to hold up your part of the agreement.

Lifetime Adoption

Lifetime Adoption was founded in 1986. We work with families nationwide. We provide monthly webinars, check-ins, and blogs for our waiting families that provide education, support, and referrals. Our goal is to bring birth parents and adoptive families together through our online platform.

Each member of our staff is caring, experienced, and enthusiastic about matching birth mothers with adoptive families. We provide the tools and resources to create a successful adoption journey for our adoptive families.

For birth parents, we provide counseling, support, referrals, and more before and after the adoption. For these birth families who are making the loving choice to place their child for adoption, we work hard to match them with loving adoptive parents who are open to the after-adoption contact they desire.

If you’re thinking about adopting an infant and becoming a parent yourself, please complete Lifetime’s free adoption application. The application is free and does not obligate you in any way.

We work with birth parents and adoptive families throughout the United States. If you are a family looking to adopt an infant or a birth parent in need of adoption assistance, please get in touch with Lifetime by calling (727) 493-0933 or using the Text Us button below.

Similar questions that hopeful adoptive couples have asked:

Do you have newborns or infants now?

Can we select the gender of the child?

Do you ever have twins?

If you’re thinking about becoming a parent through domestic infant adoption, the first step is to complete Lifetime’s free application.