[Bradshaw75]

My husband and I have decided to adopt. However we are stuck on where we start. We know what we want but we dont know where to find help. We live in California and are looking for agencies to help us with this amazing journey. We do not have a homestudy yet and we understand that is where we start but who do I look to for starting that process? Any advice???? Thank you so much.

-Gretchen

[Janderlee]

What helped us was to visit an agency who then referred us to the services or homestudy agency in our state. You could also consult with an attorney who specializes with adoptions in your state. Best of luck.

[rredhead]

Hi,

You may have already read a few books about adopting. I have a few that I think were extremely helpful in guiding us where to go.
1. The Essential Adoption Handbook, by Colleen Alexander-Roberts: A
great overview of the processes
2. Is Adoption for You : The Information You Need to Make the Right
Choice, by Christine Adamec: Even if you know you want to adopt, I
think this book really focuses on the emotions involved with
adoption, and takes you more in depth regarding your feelings
3. Adopting in America: How to Adopt Within One Year, by Randall
Hicks: I just finished this, and wish I had it earlier. This is a
book that has all of the state agency and some attorney
information in it. It covers the legal processes very well.
4. The Adoption Resource Book, by Lois Gilman: This one I found to be
a great source of questions to ask other people, including
adoption professionals.
5. The Complete Adoption Book, by Laura Beauvais-Godwin, Raymond
Godwin: This one is, I think, biased towards US domestic
independent adoption, but it does have a lot of pro/con
information about different types of situations.

Hope this helps!
-Robyn