[crick]

Are you working with an agency at all, or directly through your state's social services dept?

I too, looked at the photolistings and inquired about a couple we saw. I was pretty overwhelmed though by it all and we then decided to go through an agency that could help us. The agency acted on our behalf, offered insight on the "code words" they use to describe the children i.e. "charming" can mean attachment disorders, and since our agency worked with several counties in our area and had a relationship with a lot of social workers. This meant when kids became available, our agency was aware of them before a lot of others and certainly before the kids made it to the photolistings. I liked using an agency because we had a caseworker who was with us every step of the way. Met the children with us, discussed her observations and pointed out things we might face and hadn't thought of, and even now after 3 years, we still have a relationship with her and I can call her for advice, therapists recommendations, or just to chat. For me, this really helped.

Sandy made a good point in that a lot of the kids on the photolistings can possibly be "hard to place" children that may have more issues & challenges than you might be comfortable with.

If you do go directly through the state services, hopefully there will be a social worker you can form a relationship with who will think of you when kids become available for adoption. I have heard though that a lot of the kids are first presented to foster families who work a lot with the social workers. Not always, but...

As far as the young ages...all of our kids were 5 and under and you'll find other parents who adopted children of those ages too. It is possible!
And of course even a 1 year old can have some issues, but along with everything else, you have to decide what kinds of possibilities you feel you can work with. Can you handle sexual abuse? drug abuse? Research everything and be honest with yourself. Don't say "oh, my child would never do that!" but instead think "IF my child does this, can I work with it?"

Keep doing your research and you'll hopefully reach a decision what route will work best for your family in finding your child.