Can You Give a Child Up for Adoption in a Different State? [Interstate Adoption]

If you have questions about interstate adoption because you don’t want to be limited to prospective adoptive families in your state, we can help.

Choosing the adoptive family is one of the most important decisions in the adoption process. You want to find the right parents for your baby — someone to love and cherish them, to protect and provide for them. Of the thousands of hopeful adoptive parents out there, you want to find the one couple who is just right for your baby. But what if this couple is from a different state?

Can you give a child up for adoption in a different state? Can someone from a different state adopt my baby?

These are common questions for an expectant mother considering adoption to ask, and we think you’ll like the answer: Yes, you can place a child for adoption in another state — you just need to work with the right adoption agency.

Do you want to get in touch with an adoption professional who can help you with your interstate adoption? Contact us today to get connected with an agency that can provide all of the support and services you need.

CAN YOU PUT A CHILD UP FOR ADOPTION IN A DIFFERENT STATE?

Yes, if you want to “give your child up” for adoption to go someplace out of state, this is possible. It is a process called interstate adoption, and it happens all the time. In order for you to have an interstate adoption, you’ll need to work with the right adoption agency and understand the adoption process.

THE INTERSTATE ADOPTION PROCESS

The details of every adoption process are unique, but the process has the same general steps for everyone.  When you need help with adoption for your baby out of state, these are the steps you will take.

Step 1: Find a National Adoption Agency

There are several different types of adoption professionals you can work with, but national adoption agencies are the best equipped to help you in an interstate adoption. National adoption agencies are built to work across state lines, and they are already working with a large group of hopeful adoptive parents across the country. This means you’ll be more likely to find the perfect family for your baby in a shorter amount of time. Because they work with so many families, national adoption agencies are able to provide you with more resources and services.

Since most of the adoptions these agencies complete are interstate adoptions, their adoption specialists know all of the unique aspects of interstate adoption that local social workers may be less familiar with. Some national adoption agencies to consider are:

• American Adoptions
• Gladney Center for Adoption
• Angel Adoption

Step 2: Create an Adoption Plan

When “giving a child up” for adoption while the parents are in two different states, you’ll create an interstate adoption plan with the help of an adoption social worker or specialist. In this plan, you can make decisions about your adoption, like what kind of adoptive parents you are looking for and what level of openness you would like to have with them. This is your baby, your life, and your decision — you get to make all the important decisions about what you want your adoption to look like.

“They want whatever you want, and that’s what they told me during the whole process,” birth mother Angelica said about her adoption professional. “It wasn’t up to them; they were just going to be there for me no matter what decision I made.”

Step 3: Choose an Adoptive Family

Your adoption professional will present you will adoption profiles of families who line up with the description of what you are looking for. With a national adoption agency, these hopeful adoptive parents could be from anywhere in the country. Whether you are searching for parents in a specific state or want to keep your options open to families across the country, a national agency can help you find the perfect adoptive parents. You will be able to read letters, look at photos and potentially (depending on the agency) even watch videos of families before choosing one you think will be best for your baby.

Step 4: The Hospital Stay, Birth and Placement

When it’s time to go to the hospital, the adoptive parents will travel to your home state for the birth. Depending on the level of openness in the interstate adoption, you may or may not interact with them at the hospital. That is all up to you and what you are comfortable with. After birth, you can complete the adoption paperwork when you are ready, and the baby will be placed with the adoptive parents.

Step 5: Life After Placement

Adoption can be emotionally difficult. Even though it may be the best choice for you, there is still loss involved. Immediately following adoption, it’s normal to need time to recover, both emotionally and physically. You can move forward in life and know that you did what is best for you and your baby. You made a brave, loving and selfless decision to place your child’s needs above your own, and you gave the most incredible gift to another couple who wanted desperately to be parents. That makes you a hero.

Take it from adoptee Cole:

“My birth mother is immeasurably awesome!” he said.

Watch his family’s adoption story here.

And, thanks to open adoption, you’ll be able to watch your baby thrive because of that decision. Take it from adoptee Cole:

Open adoptions can help everyone adjust to their new situation post-placement. The majority of modern-day adoptions are open adoptions because of the many ways they benefit everyone involved. Just a few of these benefits include:

• You will always be able to know how your child is doing
• You will be able to be a part of their life
• The adoptive parents will be able to speak openly about the adoption
• Your child will understand where they came from and why you chose adoption
• And much, much more

BENEFITS OF OUT-OF-STATE ADOPTION

You may already have certain benefits in mind when you ask, “Can you put a child up for adoption in a different state?”

As an expectant mother, you may find this appealing because you want to move forward with your life following adoption. While some prospective birth mothers are drawn to open adoption, you may be seeking closure. Or, maybe you want an open adoption, but you want to communicate on your own terms — not by running into your child and the adoptive family at the grocery store. Choosing an adoptive family in a different state could give you the space you need to continue pursuing your dreams.

Additionally, interstate adoption gives you a better opportunity to find the best family for your baby. National adoption agencies work with many more families than local adoption agencies. Having more families to choose from means you have a better chance of finding the perfect adoptive parents who are just right.

Regardless of which benefit of adoption motivates you the most, you can choose a family in a different state to adopt your baby. And with the help of the right adoption agency, it can be one of the best decisions you’ll make. Talk to an adoption professional today to get more information on out-of-state adoption.