One of the most common adoption questions that we get is “If I choose to give my baby up for adoption, will they be put into the Florida foster care system?” While foster care adoption in Florida is an option, private adoption is too. What’s the difference? Well, when a woman chooses to place her baby for private adoption in Florida, she is able to use a private, Florida adoption agency or attorney, and choose the right adoptive family for both her and her baby. Plus, with private adoption, she won’t have to worry that her child is stuck in foster care.
All hopeful adoptive families have gone through extensive background checks, including:
- Local, state, and federal background checks
- DCF abuse registry check
- Sexual abuse registry check
- Medical check/report stating they are physically and mentally able to parent a child
- Financial record check to ensure they are financially stable and able to care for a child
In addition to the background checks, the adoptive families have done a comprehensive home study and gone thorough an educational course on adoption. They’ve also provided ample documents showing that they have the financial resources to raise a child, and provided numerous letters of reference, supporting their decision to grow their family through adoption.
Open Adoption
When comparing foster care and adoption, one thing to think about is how much you’d like to see your baby in the future. While parents may be able to keep in contact with their children in foster care, it’s often in a very structured way or in a monitored environment. However, private adoption may allow the birth parents the ability to stay in contact with their child, even after placing them with the adoptive family. Oftentimes, this is known as open adoption. Of course, if you’d like less contact, you can choose to have a closed adoption too. Every post-adoption relationship is different and can change over time, but the choice to have an open adoption is yours to make. Learn more about post-adoption relationships.
Foster Care vs. Adoption: Birth Mother Assistance
When your baby is put into foster care, you don’t receive any sort of assistance in regards to medical fees or counseling or help with living expenses. With private adoption, you would be able to receive free medical services and counseling. You would also be given some level of financial support to help with pregnancy-related expenses. This may include rent, utilities, food, toiletries, transportation, medical bills, and cell phone bills. This support, depending on your needs, would even be available for up to six week, post-pregnancy.
If you choose to work with The Adoption Law Offices of Madonna Finney, you would also be able to gain assistance from one of our knowledgeable and trained staff members in assessing your short-term and long-term needs and applying for services that may benefit you. This may include Medicaid, WIC, Healthy Start, as well as other public services. We would also provide you access to a personal, professionally-trained, mental health advocate available to you 24/7, 365 days a year. Pregnant and need help with housing? We can assist you with that too.
Need To Talk with Someone?
If you find yourself choosing between foster care and adoption in Florida, give us a call today. Madonna is the only Board Certified Florida Adoption Lawyer in the panhandle. She has been placing children into loving for over 22 years. In that time, she has NEVER ONCE put a child into foster care. Our staff would be happy to help you better understand your options.
Call or text us today at (850) 308-1836 or Message Us on Facebook. There is no cost to you and everything we talk about is confidential.