Exploring adoption options

Selecting type of adoption

Selecting an adoption services provider

Receiving contracts from agency

Telling friends & family

Telling existing children about adoption

Undergoing background checks

Getting through the bureaucracy

Undergoing medical exams

Completing the home study process

Raising funds for adoption

Engaging in the placement process

Waiting for the call

Considering children in foster care

Locating a child independently

Managing stress and anxiety

Matched with adoptive child

Getting matched with a birth parent

Getting photos of adoptive child

Learning about the child

Accepting the referral

Deciding to continue looking

Meeting the biological parents

Preparing your home for the child

Filing the required legal documents

Traveling to adoptive country

Being interviewed

Holding your child for the first time

Signing relinquishment papers

Bringing your child home for the first time

Post-adoption agency visits

Dealing with a contested adoption

Seeking advice from other adoptive families

Adjusting to your new family

Falling in love with your child

Sending adoptive child to therapy

Talking to child about the adoption

Same sex adoption