The Complete Guide to Adoption in Indianapolis
Original Content
Adoptions can be a butiful, life-changing experience for everyone involved. With this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about adopting or placing a child for adoption in Indianapolis.
American Adoptions of Indiana is headquartered here. In our 30 years of experience, we’ve helped build thousands of families. We care about you, your family and your child, and we’re ready to support you through the entire process of adopting a child in Indianapolis.
If you need help placing a child or growing your family, contact our offices today.
Indianapolis Office
Indianapolis, IN 46240
+1 (800) 236-7846
Brownsburg Office
Brownsburg, IN 46112
+1 (800) 236-7846
Putting a Baby Up for Adoption in Indianapolis in 6 Steps
Choosing adoption in the face of an unplanned pregnancy is a courageous, selfless choice. We know that you’re considering adoption because you want the best outcome possible for your child.
Working with American Adoptions of Indiana can remove some of the frustrating legal complexities around putting your baby up for adoption; contact us now for compassionate, personalized support.
Step #1: Decide if Adoption is Right for You
Adoption is a life-changing decision, and should be considered from all angles. Our counselors will never tell you what to do, or pressure you in any way. We recognize your bravery, and will do everything we can to empower you throughout this process.
Step #2: Create Your Adoption Plan
Your adoption plan consists of medical information and your ideal path through the adoption process. Our adoption specialist will help you fill this out.
We’ll need you to sign an Indiana Authorization to Represent. This authorization tells the state you’re allowing us to advocate for you, and helps us secure things like your Medicare coverage. All of the benefits go directly to you; the authorization just lets us file paperwork on your behalf.
The rest of the adoption plan deals with what you’re looking for in an adoptive family, and what you’re comfortable with after placement. Your adoption plan will be used to connect you with families with similar goals and expectations as you.
Step #3: Choose an Adoptive Family
Your adoption specialist will provide lists of family profiles for you to review. These profiles are insights into the families waiting for opportunities to adopt. These may include a short video introduction, descriptions of hobbies, careers, beliefs, favorite foods and more.
View our waiting Indiana families .
Step #4: Create Your Hospital Plan
Just like with your adoption plan, you’re in control of your hospital plan. You can decide everything about your hospital stay. For example:
- Who would you like with you in the hospital?
- Who would you like in the delivery room?
- How much time do you want to spend with your baby?
There are even more options available to you. You can be as detailed or as broad as you like.
Step #5: Finalize Your Child’s Adoption
Once your child is born, you’ll be able to finalize your adoption. In Indiana, you can legally consent to an adoption at any point after your child is born. A birth father may or may not need to consent to your child’s adoption. Your adoption specialist and adoption attorney can walk you through the specifics of this process.
Step #6: Begin Building Your Life-Long Bond
Adoption doesn’t have to be the end of your relationship with your child and their adoptive family. With open or semi-open adoptions, your bond with your child will only grow in the years to come. Again, it’s up to you to decide what you want these relationships to look like.
Adoption isn’t the end of our services either. American Adoptions of Indiana will be there for you for as long after your adoption as you need. We provide counseling to birth mothers who work with us, and facilitate communications between you and your child’s adoptive family.
6 Steps -How to Adopt a Baby in Indianapolis
Welcoming a child into your home is a life-changing experience. You deserve to grow your family the way you want. Let us help you have that experience.
American Adoptions of Indiana has over 30 years of experience, and is licensed in every county in Indiana.
Contact us today to begin your adoption journey.
Step #1: Decide if Adoption is Right for Your Family
Adopting a baby will change your family and your life forever. Many families are very aware and excited for this. If you’ve considered adoption and how it will impact your life, your next step is to contact an agency for the type of adoption you want to pursue.
Agencies like American Adoptions of Indiana offer numerous benefits to perspective parents, including knowledgeable and experienced staff members who are ready to help you through every step of your adoption. The earlier in this process you secure professional help the better.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
Step #2: Prepare for Your Home Study
The home study process is essential to adoption in Indianapolis. It’s a three-part safety check to ensure adopted children are placed in a safe environment. They are required for all adoptions and for foster care providers.
Home studies can be difficult to navigate alone. Luckily, you’re not alone. American Adoptions of Indiana is a licensed home study provider in all Indiana counties. This means your adoption specialist can both help you prepare for the home study before hand and be the social worker who conducts it.
Step #3: Complete Your Profile
Your adoptive family profile is the primary way birth mothers will find you. These profiles will start with a video introduction of you and your family, which our video team will help you put together.
You can include anything you want in your profile, but we recommend at very least a short summary of your life so far and information about hobbies and career. The more a birth mother gets to know you, the more information they have to make a selection. Once your profile is complete, you’ll start being seen by prospective birth mothers.
Step #4: Be Selected by a Birth Mother
Once a birth mother selects your family, your adoption specialist will put you in touch.
If this happens to you, stay patient and don’t be discouraged; we have a 100% success rate in connecting prospective birth mothers and adoptive families when the families stay active. You deserve to grow your family, and we will do everything in our power to make that a reality.
Once you are selected, the birth mother may want to contact you a few times, or may even ask to meet in-person.
Step #5: Finalize Your Child’s Adoption
As the birth mother’s due date approaches, your adoption specialist will explain to you how you fit in to the birth mother’s hospital plan. This part of the process is highly dependent on the birth mother. Once the hospital plan has completed, in most cases, you’re free to bring your child back to their new home.
In a few weeks, you’ll need to attend your finalization hearing, where you and your adoption attorney will go to a court to complete the adoption. The court will decide how many post-placement visits you’ll need - most courts require at least two visits.
Step #6: Begin Building Your Life-Long Bond
The legal process may be done, but adoption is a life-long journey. You’ll continue bonding with your child as they grow, and if you ever need help, American Adoptions of Indiana will be here for you.
Types of Adoption in Indianapolis
The most common types of adoption in Indianapolis are:
Adoption Agencies in Indianapolis
In most cases, you’ll find professional help an invaluable tool during your adoption process. Bringing in experts who have worked through the adoption before can make your experience run much more smoothly. Review some of the trusted professionals bellow for help growing your family:
Private (Infant) Adoptions
We would be honored to help you work through your domestic infant adoption. At American Adoptions of Indiana, our staff is based in Indianapolis and knows the community well.
If you’re looking into expanding your family, or are facing an unplanned pregnancy and considering adoption, contact us today. We’re always eager to help out a neighbor.
Foster Care Agencies
International Adoption Agencies
Indianapolis Adoption Laws
While most Indiana laws are state-wide, some vary by county. Here we’ll walk you through Indiana’s laws in detail.
Marion County Court
In Indianapolis the Civil Division Court D08 takes care of all of the guardianship cases, which includes adoption. Your adoption specialist will organize the required forms for you, but if you want, you can also access them and contact info on the court’s website.
Financial Assistance
Under Indiana’s adoption law, a birth mother may receive funds to put towards attorney fees, medical bills and other living expenses. However, there is a monetary cap in place. If you’re working with an adoption agency or attorney, removing this restriction should come fairly easily.
The practice of adoptive parents directly paying birth mothers is illegal. This is to prevent birth mothers from profiting off of adoptions.
Working with a licensed adoption agency for your adoption can help alleviate the legal work required to get your birth mother the things she needs, like rent, utilities, maternity clothes, medical bills, and other expenses.
Birth Fathers
Birth Fathers have more limited rights in Indianapolis than the birth mother does. Depending on your situation, they may or may not need to consent to adoption. The scenarios in which you will need the birth father’s consent are:
- If the birth mother is married to the birth mother,
- If the birth father has established paternity through court order, or
- If the birth father has a signed paternity affidavit.
However, these requirements are invalidated in some situations. Read the ‘consent’ section for details on when the birth father may not be required to give consent.
Consent
For an adoption to proceed, consent is usually required from all parties listed below:
- The birth mother.
- The birth father, if they have established paternity rights.
- Any person or entity (agencies and law offices) with legal custody over the child.
- The court with local jurisdiction.
- The child, if they are over 14 years old.
Some of these consent requirements may be invalidated. To have a court wave a consent requirement, you’ll need to work with an adoption attorney to prove one of more of the following. Consent can be waived if:
- The child’s parent has not made consistent or purposeful contact while the child has been in the custody of another person for one year or more.
- The parent’s parental rights were terminated by a court already.
- The parent is seen by a court to be an unfit caregiver already, and has ruled against their ability to contest adoption.
- The biological father failed to establish paternity.
- The child was conceived as a result of assault, if the biological father was not married to the biological mother.
Notice
In Indiana, several persons and entities connected to the child must be notified when an adoption is finalized. These include:
- All parties who were required to give consent for the adoption.
- The presumed biological father, if registered by the state registry.
- The grandparents.
- The DCS office where the child services request was initially filed.
- Any facility, agency or other organization which is caring for the child currently.
ICPC
The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, or ICPC, is a law that regulates adoptions which cross state lines. The ICPC’s purpose is to make sure both participating states’ adoption laws are followed. Here’s what that will look like for Indiana:
- If you’re a resident adopting a baby in Indianapolis from another state, you’ll need to check that state’s ICPC requirements. Once you meet the requirements, the social workers in your child’s home state will need to send an ICPC referral to your social workers or attorneys in Indiana.
- If you’re adopting a baby from Indiana and are not a state resident, the results of your home study will be sent to Indiana. If the ICPC office in Indiana approves your home, they will grant you a referral and the adoption can proceed.
Others
Here are some other Indiana-specific laws that may apply to you:
- Open adoptions are legal, and can be made informally or via the court
- Informal open adoption agreements can only be made if the child is less than two years old, and are not considered enforceable.
- Formal open adoption agreements may be enforced, but violating the terms will not invalidate the adoption.
- If you are married, Indiana law requires you to adopt jointly with your spouse. Otherwise, single adoption is permitted.
- There is no restriction on gender, sexual orientation, religion, or age to adopt a child in Indiana – however, individual adoption agencies in Indianapolis may set their own standards for these factors.
- The birth mother is given 30 days after giving consent in which she may revoke consent. After that, consent is irrevocable. All other parties waive their right to revoke their consent when they sign the consent form, provided the form contains the correct legally binding language.
Indianapolis Adoption Requirements
When it comes to adoption, social worker’s first priority is making sure children are placed in safe, supportive homes. While there are no requirements for birth mothers to be able to place a child for adoption, adoptive parents must meet several requirements before being considered for adoption.
The Indiana Adoption Requirements for adoptive parents are as follows:
You can use this article to learn more about Indiana’s adoption requirements.
How Much Does it Cost to Adopt in Indianapolis?
While adoption will be an expensive process, many families find budgeting and saving for adoption effective tools to overcome this hurtle. Working with adoption specialists who are transparent about pricing and can help you plan your finances could make all the difference for your adoption experience.
Remember, for birth mothers, placing your child with a family is always free.
Domestic adoption is made up of smaller fees, including:
*When working with American Adoptions of Indiana, these costs are bundled into one flat fee, which prevents unnecessary duplicate charges.
Most foster care adoption expenses are taken care of by Indiana. You may still be responsible for legal fees and costs of a home study, depending on your county.
Financial Assistance for Adoption in Indianapolis
Whether you’re facing an unplanned pregnancy or trying to grow your family, there’s no reason to go through it alone. Here are a list of local Indianapolis resources to help you:
Financial Assistance for Unplanned Pregnancies
There are resources to help alleviate the financial strain of pregnancy.
Agencies can help you secure funding from your future child’s adoptive family. These facilitated payments have to run through a licensed agency to be legal.
Remember that placing a child with an adoptive family should never cost you money. Do your best to seek out a trustworthy adoption partner.
You might find that you qualify for local assistance, state-level programs, or even federal help. Your adoption specialist can help you apply for those that pertain to your situation. Programs you may be eligible for may include:
There are also many programs available specifically for Indianapolis residents. Here are some programs you could benefit from:
If these aren’t the right fit for you, you may want to check in at your local hospital, city hall, or public library, and see if a We also encourage birth mothers to take advantage of our resources, including a counselling program for before and after adoption, and our ongoing education scholarship.
Financial Assistance for Indianapolis Parents
While adoption is expensive, there are state, federal, and local programs that can help make your adoption attainable. First, let’s look at available federal resources your family may qualify for:
Specialized adoption grants can make a huge difference for parents pursuing adoption. Some grants Indianapolis families can consider include:
For additional funding, many families turn to special-interest group grants. For example, many religious groups maintain adoption funds which will offer assistance to members of the same faith tradition. If you belong to a special interest group like a religion, a nationality, or another social group, consider looking into grants specialized providers.
Adoption loans are also available to most Indianapolis parents through financial institutions. As with any loan, be careful to consider the long term impact the payments will make on your family’s life. You can ask your adoption specialist more about loans for help examining your budgeting options.
There are also many programs available specifically for Indianapolis residents. Here are some programs you could benefit from:
If these aren’t the right fit for you, you may want to check in at your local hospital, city hall, or public library, and see if a professional there can help you find out about assistance programs near you.
Other Adoption Professionals in Indianapolis
Every adoptive family has a different experience – some choose to forego working with an agency, and use other adoption specialists instead.
Start your Adoption Process
Your family’s adoption journey can begin today. Even if you aren’t ready for concrete steps, and simply need more information, we can help. We have knowledgeable, local staff members ready to help you plan your process out. You don’t need to wait any longer to begin your adoption journey; start building the family you deserve with American Adoptions of Indiana.
Disclaimer
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