jennifer pedley | you mean i don’t have to go to china to adopt a baby?

Many people don’t realize that domestic adoption has always been the most common way in which Americans adopt children. Adoptive Families Magazine reports that in 2008, there were 25,000 to 30,000 infants adopted in the U.S. (excluding foster and relative adoption), more than all the international adoptions from every country combined! In the last fifteen years, I have talked to a lot of adoptive parents who never thought domestic adoption was even an option for them; that thought they were too old, that you had to wait years for a healthy baby, or that it was just too legally risky.

Surprise! That just isn’t reality. The truth about adopting an infant in the U.S. is that the wait is, most often, shorter than in an international adoption (especially now, when many countries are experiencing significant delays), the costs are often lower and it is not only possible, but probable, that you will bring home an infant–usually straight from the hospital. What you also may not realize is, unlike international adoption, where each country has its’ own set of specific qualifications a family must meet, domestic adoption is available to just about anyone.**

How come you never knew this, you ask? Well, for one thing, domestic adoptions don’t attract the kind of attention that international adoptions do (thanks, Angelina!), and even though they’re all around you, you’re much less likely to notice these families in the grocery store. Until recently, there weren’t many positive portrayals of domestic adoption in the media and we are just now beginning to move away from the negative stigma widely associated with being a birthmother.

I, myself, am a birthmother. I was in college when I made an adoption plan for my son Grey, at birth, nearly twenty years ago. He and I are used to the puzzled looks we get, when we tell people that I am his birthmother and we’ve known each other his whole life. As unusual as this might seem, to Grey, it is not only normal life, it is completely boring!

Catch me next Wednesday when I’ll be writing about “Who are birthmothers…really?” Whether you are thinking about adopting, are already an adoptive family, know someone who has adopted, was adopted or is going to be adopting, or maybe you are just curious (okay, I think that is everyone, right?!?), you are bound to learn something new!

*Got a question? Email me at jpedley@comcast.net
*What adoption-related topics interest you most? I would love to hear from you!
*Check out my blog, The Blog of Least Bad Choices at www.jenniferpedley.com

Watch for my new book, Secrets To Your Successful Domestic Adoption, Insider Advice To Create Your Forever Family Faster, due for release in June 2010 from HCI Books.

**For specific information on your state’s laws regarding who may adopt, contact a licensed adoption agency or an adoption attorney in your state. (Find an attorney at The American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, www.adoptionattorneys.org).

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