[Karenanne]

Is it required to find an adoption agency in the state that you live in? We are currently looking into adopting a biracial newborn.

[sanielsen]

Karenanne, you don't have to use an agency in your own state. You'll just want to make sure the agency you use knows the current laws in your home state.
Good luck!!!

[Nicole Witt]

Hi Karenanne,

As Sanielsen noted, you do NOT have to use an agency in your home state. In fact, depending on the state in which you live, you may not want to. Each state follows its own laws and some are much more "adoptive parent friendly" than others. As a secondary consideration to how "safe" a state is, you may want to think about the amount of closeness or distance to a birth mother that you are comfortable with and what your budget allows in terms of travel.

Best of luck on your adoption journey,
Nicole

Nicole Witt
Adoption Consultant

[bromanchik]

There are some states that require that the agency be licensed in your state. You need to find that out.

Otherwise, I just don't get this desire to go to an out-of-state agency. It is so much easier, and usually cheaper, dealing with people face-to-face.

[usmcfamily2005]

You can use an agency that is not in your state.

Don't really know how this is anymore expensive or inexpensive than using an agency in your own state.

I do know that with the particular agency we used, it made our wait time shorter because they had access to birthmothers in all 50 states.

Narrowing yourself down to one state, who ONLY has access to children locally, can make your wait time longer.

[G35Guy]

usmcfam, would you mind PMing me the agency you used? thanks