[librarygal4]

Hi there,

I am looking for some information on adopting an older child, probably 6-11 yrs old, though may go older. I have read some things on these forums that people wait so long for a placement when they do straight adoption, but most seem to be people wanting a child 0-5 yrs old. Is there the same problem with older children? Or are the straight adoptions of older children easier than the younger ones? I would be willing to do fost/adopt, but would prefer a straight adoption to sidestep all of the uncertainty.

Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks so much

[Fostertoforever]

It probably depends on where you are as to how quickly adoptions get matched and processed. Our region of the state is notoriously slow, whereas an adjacent region is quick. Blessings to you to open your home to older children. They so need permanency.

[Chosenbylove]

We orginally started out as foster to adopt. We wanted children 5 to 15. We went to several adoption matching events for older children. We looked on the PA website EVERY day and submitted our family profile for TONS of children. Some were large sibling groups. Some were teens with medical issues (I have some med training). Nothing. We can close when were chosen as one of three families for a 6 yr with psych issues. But then her worker never got back to us and her profile showed up at a matching event. We decided to do foster care even if it ment giving the child back. We just wanted to be parents. We now have two children and are in the process of getting our baby's brother. All should be coming up for adoption.

[Barksum]

We did straight adoption and adopted 3 different times from foster care. We adopted a child less than 2 years old each time. We waited about 10 months for the first adoption, less than that, I think, for the second adoption, and I can't remember the total wait time for the third because we took a break in the middle due to a death in the family. I think we waited about 8-10 months, while we were actively pursuing that adoption.

We were open to mild mental retardation. We were open to any race, or mix thereof. We were open to drug addiction at birth, and fetal alcohol. We were not open to RAD.

I think much depends on your state's policies and how their adoption programs works, your local agency and how well it is run, and things like your openness to various issues (like prenatal exposure to drugs/alcohol, race, etc).

All of our kids were prenatally exposed to drugs/alcohol. Some have had attachment problems. Some had/have developmental delays and other issues resulting from drugs.

Came back to add that we were also foster parents for a time. We were open to adopting again, if our foster kids' situations would happen to go that route, but none of the kids we fostered ever moved on to TPR and adoption. All were reunified with bio parents. Even the kids that the cw's were sure would go on to adoption, didn't. If we'd been trying to foster to adopt it would have been very disheartening.

[canary12]

Hi librarygal4 ~ you must love to read!

That's so wonderful you're thinking about adoption! It sounds like you're really doing your homework and that your heart's open to different options.

To answer your question about foster/adopt vs. straight adoption, I'd check with your department of children and families to get a better idea of what to expect.

I noticed on another thread that you're also considering infant adoption. If you're open to working with a faith-based agency, Bethany Christian Services might be a good place to start with your questions. You could also contact a local pregnancy resource center to see if they have information on adoption agencies near you.

Best wishes to you! Keep us all posted on how things are going!