Adopting a child is not an easy process throughout the world, especially in the States. However, you have so many different options that you do not even know about, and it would be good to learn about them so that you would not get upset because of rejection too early.

This article will help you to acknowledge the whole spectrum of your options and tell you a bit about them so that you would choose the one that suits you best.

Adoption Procedure 101

There are three main ways how you can deal with an adoption procedure in the States, such as:

• Independent adoption. This type of adoption procedure is all about the agreement between the biological parents of a child and its future adoptive ones. Independent adoptions are quite risky as it is possible for biological parents to change their minds or come looking for their child when they have already grown up. Some adoptive parents do not mind that biological ones would stay in touch with the child after giving him or her up, and this would be stated in your contract as open adoption.
• Agency adoption. In this case, you have two options, i.e., to work either with a private or public agency. The first one is usually more expensive but provides better guidance; the second one, on the contrary, will be cheaper and less caring about your case as they have hundreds and thousands of orphans to take care of. All in all, it might be easier to work with an agency instead of doing everything by yourself, especially when you are adopting for the first time and know little about this process.
• Identified adoption. This is a great choice for people living in states where independent adoption is not allowed. Identified adoption basically means that both biological and adoptive parents meet each other on their own but will use the services of some agency to make a contract.

However, if you plan on adopting a child from another country, you will not have any choice but to use the services not only of a USA agency but of a foreign one as well. International adoptions are much more complicated, and the adoptive parents will need to meet the requirements both of their and of a foreign country.

And as far as talking about the age of a child, you can adopt anyone who is less than 18 years old, and the adoption procedure will take less time if you plan on adopting an older child. You can also adopt your relative; the procedure is not limited to children from other families only.