How To Adopt

From the State (Columbia, SC), Feb. 26, 1984

AGENCY

Step One: Adoptive parents apply to a state or charitable agency, and are placed on a waiting list.

Step Two: Potential parents attend training courses on adoption.

Step Three: After an extensive selection process, a couple is assigned and receives a child.

Elapsed Time: 4 to 6 years.

Step Four: The initial adoption petition is filed in court, and a legal guard1an is selected to represent the child's interests.

Step Five: Parents receive an interlocutory decree in court that gives them legal custody of the child.

Step Six: Several weeks later, there is a post-placement home study to see how the child and parents are adjusting. Additional counseling is available when needed.

Step Seven: Parents go back to court with the child and are interviewed by the judge, who then issues the final adoption decree.

Elapsed Time: 9 Months to 1 Year.

Minimum Total Elapsed Time: 4 Years and 9 months.

PRIVATE ADOPTION

Step One: Adoptive parents contact an attorney who agrees to handle an adoption if a child is located. The parents then set out to locate a child, usually through newspaper advertisements or word of mouth.

Step Two: A pregnant mother tentatively agrees to let the adoptive parents have her baby. Through the attorney, the parents pay the b1rth mother s expenses.

Step Three: The parents receive the baby.

Elapsed Time: 3 Weeks to 3 Months.

Step Four: An adoption petition is filed and an interlocutory decree is granted.

Step Five: A guardian may or may not be appointed; a home study may or may not be made.

Step Six: A judge issues a final adoption decree.

Elapsed Time: 1 Day to 1 Year.

Minimum Total Time Elapsed: 3 Weeks and 1 Day.