[tay]

this is the situation.........

My husband sister is 31 years old. She has 2 children, the oldest boy(9) is living with the grandparents, her second child (11mths) was not being taken care of and got put into foster care. The 11th month old is being adopted by a cousin. The cousin works within a foster care/adoption agency (not sure) so shes pushing all her paperwork right through to get the adoption quicker for the 11th month old. We just found out that his sister is pregnant again. My husband and i want to adopt the child she is about to have. Right now she is 70% sure shes going to adopt. (BTW she only talks and goes through her mom.. So we dont have any contact with her)

Now that i told you all most of whats going on i have a few questions..

1. Is it easier to adopt when the adoption is in the family?

2. Is the cost just as expensive as a adoption of a child that you have to go through a agency?

3. Do we have to go through a agency and have lawyers and all the other things you need?

4. How long do a adoption take if its between family?

There is a little more that i forgot to mention. Most of my husbands family live in Oklahoma. Thats also where his sister live that pregnant now. (I'm not sure when she's due to have this Kid but i think she's 5-6 months pregnant.) We live in GA. We already have 3 boys. The baby she is having is a girl.

The sister at this point we dont know if she wants to give the baby up for adoption yet. I'm just trying to find out all information in case she do. I think she is going to give it up for adoption but its not set in stone yet.

5. Is it harder to adopt between states (ok and ga)

6. do they have websites that can give me more information

As you can see i dont know a thing. I want to know and want to be prepared.
Once she says yes, shes sure 100% she wants us to adopt.

7. What is the first thing we should do to get the process rolling?

Please help!!!

[drell]

Hi there,
My Hubby and I are adopting my sisters child. We have had her from the time she was 6 months old.. she was placed by the state.
I do believe that family adoption is alot easier.. as far as time and money. Yes you will need a lawyer.. trust me on that... you want to make sure all the T's are crossed and the I's dotted. If not it could come back and bite you in the butt.
If all parties agree the adoption should go rather quickly. Has the soon to be bio father signed off or rather is he gonna sign off on this child. If not then until his rights are stripped you can not adopt this child.
You need the "mom" to try and speak to sister and see what's going on. Even if she decides to keep baby.. there is a greater chance this one will be taken away as well. I am not trying to bash anyone just speaking from my own life. Have you talked to the cousin that adopted the other baby? If she has no designs on the child herself she could be a great help to you and your husband. At least that way you have put your hat in the ring. With the right people that is.

As far as state to state it can make things longer, the red tape is out of this world. But I did a foster child adoption. If you do it privately then there should not me that much of a problem. But please please what ever lawyer you use make sure that they are well versed in adoption laws. Ask around and see who is the best.
Also you can call your local SS and see what they tell you. They can give you tons of info. You may need a homestudy.. I am sure they can direct you about that as well.

Sorry I could not have been more help. I wish you will and the best of luck to you and your husband.



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Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.. a doctor or a social Worker I am a mother... Everything in this e-mail is nothing more then my OPINION.. so take it for what it is.

[tay]

Thank you for your reply. I hope your adoption goes well without any problems .. if it do please let me know (so i will know what to expect)

As of right now we still havent heard anything.