ADOPTING AFRICAN CHILDREN

How To Get Started

Search Your Soul How To Get Started

 

Perhaps the most important concept to keep in mind is determination. Whether you work with a public agency, pursue an independent adoption or look to another country, you must be your own best advocate and stay focused on your goal of becoming a parent.

A growing number of public agencies acknowledge that a single adoptive parent may be the "placement of choice" for some children. They can provide:

bulletA high caliber of parenting potential (the screening process for singles is so exhaustive that only the most persistent survive).
bulletFocused nurturing.  Since the single parent has fewer distractions, he or she can perhaps spend a fair amount of time analyzing and responding to a child.

If you have your heart set on finding an infant and find that a public or private agency is not responsive to your needs or eager to work with you, there are other adoption resources available. A number of foreign countries will consider single adoptive parents. There are infants and young children available  for adoption. Many African government are now opening the idea to accepting single adoptive parents with guidelines that must be met.

Those who have adopted independently cite the lack of bureaucracy and restrictive selection by an agency as a positive aspect, especially if you are single, older than 40, divorced or physically handicapped.  Many welcome the opportunity and the challenges that keep the adoptive parent in the controlling seat of their own adoption process.

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