Category: Infant Adoption
Updated January 2024 The Adoption Tax Credit can significantly offset the costs and fees of an adoption process, but prospective adoptive parents need to ensure they understand the basics before de...
NCFA has been a strong advocate of the Adoption Tax Credit (ATC) since its inception, as a fiscally responsible way to help more American families who want to provide a permanent, loving hom...
Introduction The ever-increasing cost and unpredictability of private domestic adoption have recently garnered significant media attention. While responses from members of the adoption community ha...
Three Shifts to Bridge the Gap Between Birth Families and Adoptive Families for the Adoptees We Love Adoption creates a split between a person's biology and biography, and openness is an essent...
Editor's Note: This article is released to inform interested parties of ongoing research and to encourage discussion of work in progress. The views expressed on statistical or methodological issues...
Considering adoption after infertility can bring a lot of questions, and figuring out how to make the right decisions can feel overwhelming. We hope that these frequently asked questions and answer...
ALEXANDRIA, VA (July 27, 2022) - A new report released by National Council For Adoption (NCFA) highlights the dramatic changes that have taken place in adoption in recent decades and answers key qu...
Introduction While numerous health organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control, emphasize the importance of family history in assessing patients' health risk, resources on how medical ...
A note from the Author: When I wrote this article, I was a 17-year-old in the midst of college application season. I was a few months shy of being legally independent from my parents in order to ...
Thanks to the participation of over 4,200 adoptive parents, NCFA collected an expansive volume of data through our 2021 survey. In our new report, we highlight some of the key findings of our analy...
Little education and training exists on the intersection of addiction and adoption. As the director of Adoption Programming at PACE Recovery, and an adoptee, Dr. Brett Furst offers his expertise on...
ALEXANDRIA, VA (May 11, 2022) - A new report released by National Council For Adoption (NCFA) highlights the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on adoption within the U.S. Adoption by the Numbers, a r...
Adoptions that take place across state lines often involve the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC), an important legislative agreement to facilitate interstate child welfare rela...
Access to adoption and birth records for adoptees sits at the intersection of ethics, privacy, confidentiality, and adoptee rights. Carefully navigating these delicate topics requires an understand...
In this practical introductory guide to Dr. Bruce Perry's Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, learn how adoptive parents and professionals can implement the wisdom of the NMT, particularly The S...
An increasing number of adoptive families are single parent households where children have found permanency and are thriving with a Mom or Dad only. To learn how to best support these adoptive fami...
Funded as a cooperative agreement with the Children's Bureau, NTDC is led by Spaulding for Children in partnership with National Council For Adoption (NCFA), Center for Adoption Support and Educat...
Postadoption depression. It's more common than you may think, but it can be an uncomfortable thing for adoptive parents to talk about. Left unaddressed, postadoption depression, sometimes referred ...
One in 700 babies in the United States is born with Down syndrome, the most common occurring chromosomal condition. Individuals with Down syndrome often have cognitive differences, weak muscle tone...
ALEXANDRIA, VA, June 9, 2021 - National Council For Adoption (NCFA) supports the passage of S. 1156 and H.R. 3031, the Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act of 2021 (ATCRA). The proposed legislatio...
Parenting is not an easy job. There are many things you can do to help you prepare for the many colossal feats this task presents like, reading books, watching videos, or seeking advice from those ...
Can military families adopt while a parent is on active duty? Should military families avoid adoption due to deployments and frequent moves? What do adoption professionals need to know and practice...
Choosing an open adoption is just the first step in a lifelong journey for birth mothers. In this issue of the Adoption Advocate, three birth moms share their stories and offer advice and encourage...
Transparent and effective child advocacy requires adoption agencies to weigh important ethical considerations and follow best practices. In this issue of the Adoption Advocate, Jennifer Lanter and ...
What Are Adoption Subsidies? People who are interested in adopting are often worried about their ability to come up with the necessary funds for the adoption process. They may also wonder how they ...
Download PDF At various times throughout the year, we are immersed as a culture in times of annual celebration that are strongly linked to traditions, memories, friends, and family. Whi...
In honor of National Adoption Month 2020, NCFA is featuring various stories and perspectives on adoption. Today we welcome guest writer Jessica, a birth mom, working to raise awareness about the im...
With proper financial planning, adoption can be an affordable option for many families. Whether you're interested in adoption grants or loans, the list below includes some of the resources availa...
We know that you probably have a lot of questions. The questions and answers on this page may not answer all the questions you may have about adoption, but this list should help you get started. ...
Depending on what type of adoption service you are looking for, you may be able to work with either an adoption agency or attorney, or both. Use this chart to discover your options! Please note tha...
My name is Lydia, and I placed my perfect little girl for adoption two days after she was born. The raw and painful memories of that day are still so very real for me. But, the absolute joy I got ...
A Note from NCFA: Adoption by the Numbers has now been updated! Please visit adoptioncouncil.org/numbers to see the 2022 report. Adoption: By the Numbers National Council For Adoption's Adoption:...
When you're the first teenager to get pregnant in your school, you're going to get talked about. I was really angry. I was angry at him, I was angry at myself. I've realized those were very, very...
Going to school pregnant, riding the bus…that was hard. You just have all the stares and you have all the questions. Even little kids make you nervous, just staring at you. When you get pregnan...
I had just turned 18 when I found out I was pregnant. Although I was young and it was unexpected, I felt an unbelievable amount of love for my unborn child. My parents pushed for adoption, especial...
My name is Angela and I chose adoption. I am originally from St. Louis. I was born and raised there. I took the test, and I was in shock. Like, this is not happening, what about my future? Compl...
I chose open adoption. My mom got mad at me. I had uncles and aunts mad at me. My grandma was mad at me. We adopt people into our family, but we don’t adopt out of our family. My aunt said i...
Finding out I was pregnant my senior year of high school was devastating. I did not want to believe it – it took three positive pregnancy tests to convince me that I was really pregnant. I h...
In the summer of 1996, shortly after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I went to Atlanta to work at the Summer Olympic Games. In August, I became pregnant. The bi...
In 2019, 23 percent of all children in foster care were 13-17 years old, and nearly 6 percent of those were adopted that same year.1 While international adoptions have declined overall since 2005, ...
My life changed completely when adoption became part of my story. Adoption encouraged me to become more empathetic, compassionate, understanding, and mature. Adoption led me to a life lived intimat...
Weaving Hope Into Heartache – A Parent’s Perspective If you’re an adoptive parent like me who has had the benefit of training and education rooted in TBRI, then you know how essential Th...
It's not often that you remember exactly where you were when reading a book more than 13 years ago, but I do remember reading a manuscript of Dr. Karyn Purvis' The Connected Child. I was on a...
Updated for Fall 2022 When educators and parents work together to support adopted children in the classroom, great things can happen! But this requires both teachers and parents to be properly inf...
The decision to become a parent brings one of life's greatest joys and carries with it a whole host of commitments and responsibilities to provide for the many needs children have: from the basics ...
The adoption process for expectant parents is different from state to state and across different adoption agencies, but most infant adoptions follow a similar process. Here are the steps you can ex...
View and Download PDF Tricia loved being a mom. When she and Sam married after college graduation, they had dreamed of having a large family. By their tenth anniversary, they had two da...
NCFA has been a strong advocate of the Adoption Tax Credit (ATC) since its inception, because it is a fiscally responsible way to help more American families who want to provide a permanent, lo...
Introduction Now more than ever, adoption agency personnel are being asked to help parents understand pediatric medical and mental health complexities. Whether children are adopted internationally,...
NCFA's "Choosing an Adoption Agency" from 2014 has been one of our most popular Adoption Advocates1. It's been recommended as a resource by the Today Show, NBC Dateline, and RESOLVE: The Nationa...
National news outlets have reported on the arrest this week of Arizona attorney Paul Petersen, who has been indicted on numerous charges related to the alleged trafficking of pregnant women and chi...
Introduction Historically, adoptions in the United States were strictly closed adoptions that entailed sealed legal records and absolutely no contact between the birth parents and the adoptive famil...
Adoption in the U.S., originally focused on placing healthy infants, has evolved to the point that now the majority of children available for placement either have recognized medical problems or ar...
The decision to begin or grow your family through adoption is certainly life-changing and rewarding. This decision can also bring with it a great deal of uncertainty and emotion. One hundred years ...
Over the past century, transracial adoption in America has become more and more common. In this issue of the Adoption Advocate, Alexis Oberdorfer shares about the history of transracial adoption an...
The choice of adoption for an expectant parent experiencing unintended pregnancy is a beautiful and viable option. As adoption professionals, we all have story after story we can share with the wor...
Feeding and mealtimes are rich with opportunities for families to build trust and attachment, but when things aren’t going well, those opportunities are lost. From hoarding to picky eating, worr...
Words matter so much, especially when we’re speaking about something as deeply personal as adoption. Accurate adoption language can help stop the spread of misconceptions about adoption and reflec...
Curiosity about who we are, where we came from, and our significance in life is universal. Today, opportunities abound to search family history to fill in the missing pieces of the past, whether a f...
November is National Adoption Month, a time when our nation commits an entire month to focus attention on the institution of adoption. For many, it's a time of celebrating the good that adoption ac...
Military families have the potential to be outstanding adoptive families. They often have an incredible support network of friends. Military families tend to be flexible and adaptable and those are ...
Introduction When Andrew1 and his girlfriend Maria chose adoption for their daughter five years ago, Andrew was astounded that he had to sign only one form to terminate his parental rights, while M...
When I was 15 years old, I heard for the first time that in certain cases of adoption, a baby is adopted and grows up, never knowing who their birth parents are. That really surprised me. I wou...
What is open adoption? Today, a significant majority of domestic infant adoptions are "open adoptions" in that birth parents and adoptive parents have agreed to engage in some level of communicatio...
Introduction The landscape of adoption has changed dramatically in recent years. In the past, an expectant parent would most likely connect with an adoption agency in her area through print adverti...
I just celebrated my seventh anniversary as a birthmother. July 11th marked the day that my daughter was born and my life was forever changed. I was eighteen years old when I signed the ado...