[tobeafamily]

One of the risks of a domestic parental placement adoption is that the child's biological parents - either mother or father - may decide against placing and choose to parent. Accepting a placement of a child before both biological parents have voluntarily terminated their parental rights - or, in the case where the biological father us unknown, their rights have been terminated by the court ("any unknown birth father" proceedings) is called an at-risk adoption. That means that there is a risk that the child may be reclaimed by one or both of their biological parents.

Because of this, some couples decide not to accept an at-risk placement under any circumstances. In many others, a licensed private foster care is used as an intermediate step until all rights are terminated.

I will say that reclaimations are not common in domestic parental placement. There are no independent statistics around this, so it's impossible to say definitively. There are also 'red flags' that help prospective APs understand the magnitude of risk, though nothing is ever certain until paperwork is filed.

As far as 'nobody will adopt domestically' I would say that's very inaccurate. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of couples and families seeking to adopt through domestic parental placement - far more than there are expectant parents making an adoption plan. Even given that, I fully believe that it's a realistic expectation that you can adopt a newborn of any ethnic background domestically within a year.

My best advice is this:

Be heavily skeptical of sweeping statements like 'all of' or 'nobody does' because they're usually not accurate.

Go to the library and read everything and anything you can on domestic parental placement adoption. Some very good books are "The Open Adoption Experience" by Lois Molina and "Adopting in America: How to Adopt within One Year" by Randall Hicks. Others are "Dear Birthmother" by Kathleen Silber and "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Adoption". A good one for your family is "Adoption is a Family Affair: What Friends and Relatives Must Know" by Patricia Irwin Johnston.

Lastly, ask lots of questions. There are many here and other places who are more than happy to share their experiences.

Best of luck.

Regina