[tonya620]

I have read many times on here how hard it is to adopt babies but I have also read where alot of people have got babies out of the hospital or just a few months old and were able to adopt them.

I really want to adopt 1 more child and prefer it to be young. My hubby and I want to foster children only under 3.

Foster to adopt is not the only reason we want to foster. We both truly love kids and that is why we want to foster.

So is it truly by chance that you get to adopt a baby?

How long did you have to wait to get a baby?

I live in Central FLorida

[mommytoEli]

our first baby we picked up at the hospital when he was 16 hours old....and they were sad it took us so long to get there bc they called when he was about 10 hours old. lol! we were SO in love after much drama, we were able to adopt him when he turned 15 months old. at the same time we picked up this one, we had been offerred about 6 others days before that we turned down bc dh said "NO BABIES" (oops....sorry dh, i said yes to this one ), most of these babies went to friends of ours, and all of them were reunited. so....the odds were against us. the second baby i also picked up from the hospital. he was 3 days old, and we were told from day 1 there was NO WAY this case would be anything other than adoption, so congratulations. we were of course THRILLED yet again, but when the baby was 3 months old the social worker called and said the plan had changed, the baby was going home in 30 days...and sure enough he did. it was sad (it has been almost 3years....and we have been able to check up on the family and they are find and healthy...so it turned out well.)

each child and case is just so different that you just really need to be open to the idea that the baby is not staying, and then be pleasantly surprised when they do. of course that is easier said than done.

[claschober]

We were open to 0-5 and our boys came home to us as fos/adopt at 3 1/2 yrs and 7 1/2 months...we adopted them a year later....our next son came home to us at 4 1/2 months and next week we will finalize his adoption a week before he turns 1. There are definetly young children in the system and I wish you and your family the best of luck in this wonderful journey we call fos/adopt!

[momofbgtwins]

We were open to 0-2 and got the call for boy/girl twins who were 11 days old. We picked them up from the hospital. I know there are a lot of babies out there. You have to remember that each county, state, agency, etc... is different.

[tonya620]

Thanks so much for the responces....My Hubby and I can't wait to have another baby in the house whether it be just fostering or foster to adopt...Our kids are so excited also!

[yanknrebel]

Our very first placement was a legal risk placement straight from the hospital. We had her for 34 months before we were fnally allowed to adopt her. We had several children in between that went home, all older children. Then at 3 weeks, we were asked to come visit , hold and love these preemie twins (boy/girl) as the biomom had left the hospital and never came back. NO ONE had visited them. SO we said YES. Well they had to do 72 hour hearing, and while biomom had not visited, she claimed she had called. So with bad documentation by hospital sw, they were placed with biomom. At 5 months of age, we got the call that they had been removed from biomom's home and was back in custody. DId we want them? HELLO!!! HUH?? I could not get to the next county where they were fast enough. We finally adopted them at 28 months. So it is possible.

[irelady10]

Yes, it is definitely possible to get very young babies! I got my fs at 10 days, straight from the hospital. I got adoption paperwork earlier this month- woo hoo!

I was totally not expecting a call about a newborn- I was licensed for 0-2 years, but expecting an older baby. Being able to have this little guy since he was a newborn has been, and still is, an absolutely amazing experience! He is such a happy, mellow little guy who is a complete joy!

Good luck!

[MassachusettsMom]

We got a 10-month-old that we were told would be TPRed the following month and we could adopt. Nine months later, DSS lost the TPR and our FS was court-ordered reunified.

We've also heard a number of stories about babies pulled as infants, RUed, and then back in the system as toddlers/young kids and eventually adopted. So sad that they have to go through so many years of chaos before permanency.

[shy_bear]

We picked our son up straight from the hospital. We were open 0-3; I never thought we would get a newborn through the system. There are several families in our support group who have adopted newborns. It really does depend on the area you live in.

[sunsetsky]

My foster child was discharged to me a four days old premie. It was the most amazing experience going to the hospital to pickup this tiny bundle of joy. Nothing could have prepared me for the emotions I felt. I was called at 4pm and was at the hospital one hour later. This was after being told that I didn't have room in my home to be approved for a male child. I am still in the process of adopting him 21 months later. Parents appealed TPR.

[infoster]

First and foremost I don't want to scare you or anyone who reads this, I am only being honest and I know what my Husband and I went through emotionally when we foster cared our son. We received the call for our son when he was a little over two weeks old. TPR was given because the Bio parents voluntered their rights. Mom was on 12-12-07 and Dad was on 01-03-08. To think he was going to actually go to unsupervised visits with Bio Mom the week before she decided to sign over rights. We finalized on adoption when he had just turned 9 months old. He is now a very active almost 13 month old! We love him to peices but the next baby my Husband and I adopt won't come from foster care. It was way to stressful and so scary! I look at him and I don't know how we would have lived without our precious baby. We are going to wait until next summer to look into an adoption lawyer, maybe Kirsh and Kirsh or the lawyer we used for our son's adoption??? =)

[sunsetsky]

Yes it is very scary! I will go through it again because of the children. My foster child is too young to know all of the twist and turns his life has taken from before his birth, I know I am part of the unknown pain. I have given him a stable loving home. His life is carefree because of me. There so many other children need that same beginning in life or at some point in their life. What was the most scary part of this whole experience is that I always thought he would think I abandoned him if he was RUed. I wanted to know how I could explain to a such a young child that he was not my child and that he needed to go be with his mother. He is/was so bonded with me and not his bios. I talked to social workers to find out if this was ever the case when children are returned after being in care from birth. No one could answer that question for me. It haunted me for a long time. I still will do it again. I don't know how I would feel if a child was actually RUed. I learned a long time ago that I couldn't live with the "what ifs" It hurt too much and is a waste of energy. My foster son is still here... that would be a lot of worrying.

[vernellinnj]

Originally Posted by infoster

First and foremost I don't want to scare you or anyone who reads this, I am only being honest and I know what my Husband and I went through emotionally when we foster cared our son. We received the call for our son when he was a little over two weeks old. TPR was given because the Bio parents voluntered their rights. Mom was on 12-12-07 and Dad was on 01-03-08. To think he was going to actually go to unsupervised visits with Bio Mom the week before she decided to sign over rights. We finalized on adoption when he had just turned 9 months old. He is now a very active almost 13 month old! We love him to peices but the next baby my Husband and I adopt won't come from foster care. It was way to stressful and so scary! I look at him and I don't know how we would have lived without our precious baby. We are going to wait until next summer to look into an adoption lawyer, maybe Kirsh and Kirsh or the lawyer we used for our son's adoption??? =)

Wow...Based on your timeline you recvd the child in July 07 and finalized in 2/08? That was fast for a foster/adopt situation. However I know it must have seemed like YEARS to you.

Take it from someone for whom it has been years (waiting to adopt a FC), you are blessed! I agree with you, it's not easy - its down right scary!

[BethanyB]

I live in NJ and I was called for my newborn son four days after being certified. He was my first call and was two weeks old waiting in the hospital for a home. I went to see him and held him in the hospital. He came home to me the next day. About seven months later the did the TPR and he was adopted at about 16 months. When he was a year old, I got the call for his newborn baby sister.

I am very lucky that everything went so smoothly. But here in NJ, if you are open to race there are many babies that are available.

[unclederwood]

We received our first FS in Oct of 2006. Everyone told us it would be a fast track adoption, since mom lost previous five children to the system. To everyone's surprise, mom worked her caseplan and he was RU'd in Sept 2007.

We received our current FS in May 2007. He was 7 weeks old and came srtraight from the NICU (he was born at 31 weeks). We received his biological sister in June 2007. Mom relinguished in April and dad was terminated the same month. We should be finalizing our adoption the end of this month. I LOVE these children more than anything, but I'm not sure I'm willing to ride this rollercoaster again. birthmom is currently preganant and likely will loose this child as well. We are so torn on whether to take this child as well. We want our kids to know their 1/2 sibling, but really do not want to have deal with the system again.