Adoption Oregon

Oregon Adoption, Home Studies and More

Adoption Services for
Birth Parents and Adoptive Families

Please choose where you’d like to begin:

Information about placing
a child for adoption
or
Information about adopting a child

If you are facing an unplanned pregnancy or you are hoping to grow your family through adoption, things can feel unsettled. We hope that the following information about adoption in Oregon helps you with your decision-making process and helps to bring you balance and clarity.

Pregnant and Considering Adoption in Oregon

Pregnant woman in Oregon
Are you pregnant and considering adoption? Or has your child already been born, and now adoption seems like the best option? Maybe you are facing a situation wherein your partner is no longer in the picture, and you’re finding it hard to parent alone. Whatever the situation is, you probably have a lot of questions and Lifetime Adoption has the answers you need.

How Do I Start the Adoption Process in Oregon?

It normally starts with some basic paperwork to explain your situation so that an agency has the information they need to help you through the process. This paperwork is private and doesn’t mean that you have to go through with an adoption, it is just to gather information.

Choose an Adoptive Family For Your Child

Next, if you like, you can view adoptive family profiles and choose which family you feel is perfect for your baby. Adoptive family profiles let you learn more about a family to see if they have the qualities you are looking for. If it’s important to you that the adoptive couple be of a certain race or follow a certain religion, then you can usually search by those criteria as well. The amount of contact you want with that family while expecting and after the baby is born is also up to you.

Hospital Plan and Legal Representation

Your adoption coordinator will help you create a hospital plan that will dictate who will be in the delivery room, who will hold the baby, who will feed the baby, and who will leave the hospital first, in addition to other details. You will also have a legal representative, at no cost to you, who will ensure you understand all your rights and answer all your questions.

Thinking About Placing a Child Whose Already Born?

If you are struggling to parent a toddler or older child (up to age 6) and you are researching how to put a child up for adoption, a professional counselor will help you create a plan to make the transition healthy for you, your child, and the adoptive family.

Get In Touch

Open Adoption in Oregon

A lot of people still think about adoption like it was in the 1950’s. Today, modern, open adoption gives you control over decisions about what’s best for your baby. This may include things such as who will adopt your baby and how much contact to have or not have in the future.

Questions Your Adoption Coordinator May Ask You

You can expect some questions, such as:

Would you like to view adoptive parent profiles or have a coordinator choose a family for you?
What kind of contact would you like in the future with the adoptive family?
Who do you want at the hospital when you deliver, and how would you like everything to go during your hospital stay?
Should the adoptive parents be part of your prenatal care, such as going to appointments with you?
Are you in need of any assistance with pregnancy-related expenses?

The reality of life is that sometimes parenting is not the best choice for some people. In this case, placing your child for adoption is a loving and selfless choice. Additionally, there is a family that is so excited to love a child and grow their family through adoption. You do not have to say goodbye to your child forever. You can receive updates, pictures, and even schedule visits once or twice a year. Many birth mothers have amazing relationships with the adoptive family of their child. Recently, one of our birth mothers became engaged, and asked for her daughter to be a flower girl in her wedding. Not only did her daughter attend, the adoptive parents came along and the adoptive father actually walked her down the aisle.

Help With Pregnancy Expenses and More

Emily contacted an agency because she wanted to place her baby for adoption. She was homeless and decided she didn’t want her baby to grow up on the street. Additionally, she needed to change how her life was going. Now, facing an unexpected pregnancy and the expenses to go along with it, she didn’t know where to turn. Her adoption coordinator explained that in the state of Oregon, pregnancy-related expenses can be paid by the adopting parents. These expenses may include:

Medical and hospital costs incurred due to the pregnancy
Temporary living expenses of the birth mother
Professional counseling fees
Legal fees and guardian ad litem fees
Food and utility costs during pregnancy

Counseling is a huge benefit on this list. You can speak with a professional counselor who can help you understand and deal with the emotions you have and the decisions you need to make. You can also speak with a peer counselor. She is a woman who has been through the adoption process herself. These women will share their stories and help you with your adoption journey.

Oregon Adoptive Families

No matter what you’re looking for in an adoptive family, you deserve the best. Lifetime Adoption lets you search adoptive families from across the country. We provide more adoptive family choices for you, giving you a greater chance of finding the right fit for your child. When you browse our family profiles, you can learn more about their:

Lifestyle
Reasons for adopting
Home and neighborhood
Values and religious beliefs
And much more!

Simply click on the “Search for Families” button and find the family for your baby now.

Search for Families

Families Wanting to Adopt in Oregon

Starting a family can be a labor of love. We hope that the information below helps to answer your questions, sparks new ones, and ultimately leads you to your dreams of a bigger family.

Beginning the Adoption Process

Submitting your application is normally the first step in the adoption process. Once your application is reviewed and pre-approved, you will be contacted by an adoptive family coordinator who will describe the process. She will explain how you will create your profile, how you will schedule your home study, and introduce you to all the benefits and resources available to you.

Here are some agencies that can help you in Oregon:
A Family for Every Child
Choice Adoptions
Open Adoptions and Family Services

Cost of Adoption in Oregon

The choice you make regarding the type of domestic adoption you desire will impact the cost of adoption in Oregon. In addition, factors such as whether you are adopting from Oregon or another state can impact your costs. The adoption professionals you hire and the requirements mandated by the states involved in the adoption can also add additional costs to your adoption.

Home Study

One mandatory task for all adoptive families is to complete a home study. You will choose a provider who sets the cost. You can expect to pay between $2,000 to $4,000 for the home study process. The Oregon state home study costs will cover background checks, financial verifications, FBI fingerprinting, and the social worker’s expenses, such as time for visits and creating the report.

Adoption Professionals

The cost of adoption in Oregon will also be impacted by your choice to hire an adoption professional or not. An adoption professional will assist you on your adoption journey. You will receive help connecting with birth mothers and help with screening birth parents, which can protect adoptive parents from any deceitful situations. An adoption professional not only guides adoptive parents on their adoption journey, they also provide pregnancy support and counseling for birth parents. You can expect fees to be about $25,000 and up to $50,000.

Legal Services

Legal services are another adoption expense that will arise once you are matched with an expectant mother or a child. Both you and the birth parents will need to have legal representation paid for out of your budget. These costs generally range from around $8,000 to $15,000, and the total will depend on many factors, such as the legal requirements by state and other factors that may be unique to your adoption.

Birth Mother Expenses

Some birth mothers may be in a situation where they need help with pregnancy-related expenses. In Oregon, this can include food, medical, rent, clothing, utilities, transportation, and more. These regulations do vary by state. Budgeting around $5,000 for these expenses is generally suitable, as this is about the average Lifetime Adoption birth mothers in need of financial costs generally receive. These funds must be approved and dispensed legally, so your attorney and adoption professional will work with you and the birth mother to make sure all is done according to state law.

You can expect the total cost of domestic adoption to generally range from around $38,000 to $70,000. It is important to understand the potential expenses budget for them accordingly.

Lower Cost Forms of Adoption

If the cost of domestic adoption is out of your budget, the foster system or AdoptUSKids is a lower-cost option you could pursue. There are many children in the foster care system waiting to be adopted. With foster care adoption, the state covers the adoption costs. Generally, children available to be adopted in foster care may have special needs or are older (over eight years old). As adoptive parents, you would be required to participate in parenting education. This education will focus on what you can expect when adopting a child with special needs, an older child. If you dream of adopting a newborn, toddler, or child under five years old, this can be hard to achieve through the foster care system.

One other option is international (or intercountry) adoption. If you choose this route, consult with an adoption agency specializing in international adoption and licensed with a good track record of successful adoption in your chosen country. Take the time to research what countries are currently allowing international adoption and review their rules. Generally, international adoption involves toddlers or older children, not newborn babies. Take into account the risks involved in international adoption. Countries can change their adoption laws or close adoptions before your adoption is complete. Sadly, many families hoping to adopt from Haiti and Ukraine experienced this situation. These families may end up in limbo for months or even years, and the fees they paid to an agency or other adoption professionals may not be refunded. Regarding cost, domestic and international adoption are generally very similar.

Adoption Laws in Oregon

All the legal aspects of an Oregon adoption must be followed precisely. Your adoption coordinator and adoption attorney will manage the adoption process for you.

Current laws about adoption in Oregon can be found here.

More About Oregon Home Studies

Throughout the United States, home studies are a requirement of the adoption process. The home study is meant to confirm an adoptive family’s ability to provide a safe and loving home for a child or children. This is a legal document and must be conducted by a certified home study provider in Oregon.

The home study will include the following:

Verification of Employment
Background/Criminal checks
Medical Reports from Your Doctor
References may be Requested
Visit of the home by the home study provider

Your Oregon home study social worker will also ask for documents such as marriage certificates, birth certificates, and any other relevant documentation.

Other Paths to Adoption

Oregon International Adoption Agencies

Some families want to help a child from another country who is in need. This is when international adoption is an option. There are many different was to adopt. Choosing which path is right for you is very important.

When choosing international adoption, one of the choices is which country you want to adopt from. Some things to consider are the political climate, the needs of the children, and many other factors that should influence a family’s decision regarding which country to adopt from. In addition, every country has its own laws and requirements.

It’s important to research agencies that specialize in international adoption and have experience working in the country you are interested in. Some of the most popular countries are: China, Africa, and Eastern European countries. Here are agencies that specialize in international adoption:

Holt International

Foster Care Adoption

Another way to adopt is through the foster care system. The best way to do this is to reach out to the foster care program in your county.

To qualify as a foster parent, you will need to follow the guidelines of the Oregon Department of Human Services.

Also consider training. This is important because it provides an opportunity for the family and the family’s agency to decide whether foster care or adoption is the right choice for the family.

A great resource is AdoptUSKids. You can view children hoping to be adopted in the Dallas foster care system and in other states.

Whether you want to adopt or are a parent thinking about placing your child for adoption, we hope this information is helpful during your successful adoption journey.