While many hopeful adoptive parents in Texas work with a matching professional like an adoption agency, you also have the option of working solely with an attorney to complete your adoption. This is known as an independent adoption.
Adoption attorneys in Texas cannot match you with a prospective birth mother, which is why many families choose to work with a licensed agency. But, if you already have a prospective birth mother in mind and simply need to complete the legal steps, a private adoption in Texas may be best for you.
But, how do you decide whether an adoption without an agency is right for you? Here are some good reasons that you might want to pursue an independent adoption in Texas as a prospective adoptive family:
1. You want to find a prospective birth mother on your own.
When you work with an adoption agency, your professional will handle your matching process from start to finish. For some adoptive parents, waiting for a match and not being able to do anything about it is too difficult — so they choose to actively search for a birth mother on their own in an independent adoption.
Finding a prospective birth mother on your own can be a complicated process, but it may end up reducing your wait time.
2. You’ve already found a prospective birth mother.
On the other hand, if you’ve already found a prospective birth mother who’s agreed to place her baby for adoption with you, you may not need the services an adoption agency provides. While it’s still encouraged that you work with a social worker to make sure you and your prospective birth mother are committed and prepared for the adoption process (not to mention to complete the proper background screenings), you will be able to move forward with the legal process with an attorney instead of an adoption agency.
3. You’re willing to handle the majority of the adoption process.
When you decide to complete an adoption without an agency, you also decide not to receive many of those services they provide, including counseling, screening, mediation and more. You may choose independent adoption if you feel comfortable handling these responsibilities on your own. That means being there as an emotional counsel for the prospective birth mother whenever she has concerns or questions, handling all of the communication back and forth, organizing a hospital stay and working closely with your lawyer every step of the way to ensure the proper legalities are met.
This can be overwhelming for prospective adoptive parents, so it’s important that you’re prepared for this workload should you choose an independent adoption in Texas. You may wish to reach out to trained social workers for assistance with some of these aspects of adoption.
4. You’re comfortable with a fully open adoption.
While adoption agencies can mediate your open adoption contact and give you the option of a mediated or semi-open adoption, an adoption without an agency usually does not provide you this opportunity. Because you will find and work directly with a prospective birth mother on your own, identifying information will be shared. You will have to complete an open adoption in an independent adoption because of the logistics involved.
In addition, you’ll have to handle any pre- and post-placement contact yourself. You have no agency to mediate your contact, so if you’re wary about directly maintaining a relationship with your baby’s birth mother throughout their life, you may wish to complete an agency-assisted adoption instead.
Ultimately, you are the only one who can decide whether you wish to pursue an agency-assisted or an independent adoption in Texas. If you choose an independent adoption, you should be aware of the commitment involved. To learn more about how an independent adoption works with the law firm of Brown Pruitt, please contact us today.