Complete our adoption inquiry form to begin your adoption journey. Before inquiring, we encourage you to learn about our programs and consider which option may be the best fit for your family.

Once we receive your inquiry form, an adoption worker will contact you to schedule an information call. We will discuss the adoption process, explain our programs, answer your questions, and help you with next steps if you decide you are ready to move forward.

When you are offered a spot in our waiting family pool, you will complete an adoption application and submit the application fee. Note that for the foster program, prior to filling out the adoption application, families must take RAFT training through ODHS.

The Director of Adoption Programs will review your application and schedule an interview with you and your partner (if applicable) to learn more about your family and your adoption goals. Sometimes extra documents are required.  Once your application has been approved, you will be sent contracts, pay the program fees, and be assigned an Adoption Worker to begin the home study process.

In the home study process, you will complete required paperwork, adoption education, and home visits with your assigned social worker. Your Adoption Worker will guide you through the entire process and complete a safety assessment of your home. At the end, you will have an approved home study, making you legally eligible to adopt.

After a finished and approved home study is completed, your next steps will depend on your program. Infant adoption families will prepare their profile book and begin the matching process, while foster adoption families will begin looking at and “submitting” on foster children.

When a birth parent begins working with Choice to make an adoption plan, their advocate gathers information about their hopes for an adoptive family for their baby. A birth parent profile is written up and sent out to waiting families for consideration. If your family is open to that particular situation, your interest will be shared with the birth parent’s advocate for consideration. If the birth parent would like to meet you, a match meeting will be offered. “Matching” is when an adoptive family and a birth parent both decide they want to move forward on making an adoption plan together. For foster adoption, this process is much more complex and includes additional steps.

All infant adoptions will have a contact agreement. Before placement, adoptive families and birth parent(s) decide on the level of openness they would like in their adoption. Based on this, they create a "contact agreement," which is a contract that outlines the ongoing connection and communication they plan on. You can learn more about contract agreements here.

Placement is when a child joins your family and begins living in your home. This typically happens at the hospital after birth and upon discharge. At this stage, legal guardianship is maintained by Choice, in the case of infant adoption, or maintained by the state, in the case of foster adoption.

Choice continues to support families after placement through post-placement visits, mediation, and guidance as you navigate your ongoing adoption relationship. To learn a bit more about our mediation services, visit our page here.

After the post-placement visits and recommendation for finalization by your Adoption Worker, your family will work with an attorney to complete the legal finalization process and officially complete the adoption.