[heartsr4caring]

Maybe you guys can help me out. I am trying to decide to either adopt from the state or do foster care. With foster care I am a little worried. I am a strong person but the steady loss of children, I just don't know how I would handle it. But as far as adoption there are not that many kids on the website. Are they the only kids available or are there others that get grabbed before they post them on the website. I know alot of kids are adopted by their foster parents as well. I guess my main concern is how long will I wait if I want to just adopt.

[DianeS]

Unfortunately, nobody can predict how long someone will wait if they choose to adopt from the state. A lot depends on your worker, and how proactive she is in searching for children needing the type of home you can provide. And a lot depends on the type of child you'd like to parent - if you'll choose a child others wouldn't choose, then you might get placed quicker than if you wanted a child that others wanted as well.

But yes, you were correct in guessing that many, many children are "grabbed" before they are posted on the website. In actuality, the website is one of the last places a child's information will appear in their worker's search for a home. So usually only the older children, the hardest to handle children, or the largest sibling groups will be on the website. If the child is young, healthy, well-behaved, and without siblings, he or she will find a home without having to be advertised.

You could always say you are interested only in adoption, and if after several months or a year you haven't felt that you made progress, you could change and say that you would take children expected to become free for adoption relatively soon. People change their preferences all the time, and trying it this way isn't too unusual.

Good luck!

[heartsr4caring]

Thanks for writing me back. I think I might lean toward adoption first and then if I wait a long time then I will start fostering.