There are many circumstances that leave children in need of parents and adoption is the way to get them to the people who can care for them. Single parents can adopt children, parents with biological children can also adopt, and today there are many more options and strategies than in the past. When you decide to adopt, you and your family will have to make several choices.

Domestic vs. International

International adoption is an option usually chosen by those who are looking for an infant or who want no contact at all with birth mothers. The number of international adoptions by U.S. citizens has risen considerably in the last twenty years.

There is more paperwork involved than in a domestic adoption because of immigration laws, and the adoption laws of the other country, so be informed. Domestically, the majority of children available are older children, sibling groups or special needs children. These children can often be adopted faster and with less hassle.

Foster Care vs. Infant

When family's start thinking about adopting, they usually imagine an infant. However, adoption out of foster care has its own appeal. This is an opportunity to rescue children from an unstable life. Children adopted from the foster care system often have behavioral problems, disabilities, or messy pasts, and you may be required to take a class on how to deal with these situations.

Agency vs. Independent

Private agencies have strict rules. Their priority is on childless and infertile couples. Many agencies will not accept single parents, and if they are a religious organization, preference may be shown on the basis of religion. Private agencies may have an easier time getting a couple a baby of another race, since states usually favor babies going to parents of the same race. However, private agencies are not the best choice for all perspective parents. County social service offices are more likely to accept parents over fifty, parents with large families, or those with lower incomes. In private agencies, the birth mother is often able to choose who she wants the adoptive parents to be and tends to choose young, attractive couples with an upper middle-class lifestyle.

Independent adoption might mean putting personal ads in newspapers and hanging fliers, trying to contact a birth mother directly. If families want to pursue this option, meet with a lawyer to find out how to achieve a legal adoption. There are also adoption facilitators who are usually unpaid, although in California they can charge for some specific services.

Open vs. Closed

Folk wisdom today believes it is better for a child if she knows where she comes from. Some parents balk at the idea because they want the child to be completely theirs, not shared.

The good news is that there are a wide variety of degrees of openness. Together with your agency, social worker, or the birth mother herself, you can decide whether you want the child to simply know who his birth parents were and leave it at that, or if you want to work out a visitation schedule.

Any way you do it, adoption costs money. But when you factor in hospital bills, so does having a birth child! Research the costs of different methods and find out how much different agencies, facilitators, and lawyers will charge.

Also, be prepared for a long wait. After the paperwork and visits from social workers, it can still take two years before an infant is found for you. The more flexible you are about criteria, the faster you will get a child.