Adopting an Infant in Texas [A Complete Guide]

Have you thought about newborn adoption in Texas? Adopting an infant will change your life. If want to grow your family, working with a private adoption agency provides a direct path to adopting a child in Texas.

Adopting a newborn in Texas is the result of a team effort that requires support from an adoption specialist and agency. At American Adoptions, our team consists of adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoptees. You’ll have the best support because we understand what it means to adopt a newborn, and we’d be honored to guide you through the process.

How does American Adoptions help prospective adoptive parents?

• We’ll work alongside you to find adoption opportunities.

• We’ll help you meet the home study requirements.

•  We’ll guide you through the adoption process.

• And more

Over more than 30 years, we’ve been a part of many successful adoptions, and we can help you, too.

Understanding the requirements for private adoption is easier with help from adoption specialists at American Adoptions. We’d love to join you on your journey. To get started, get free online information here.

For now, find answers to some of your questions about private adoption in Texas in this guide. Here, you’ll learn what domestic adoption in Texas is, who chooses it, how to adopt a baby in Texas, and how we can assist you.

How Do I Adopt a Baby in Texas? [In 6 Steps]

While determining how to adopt a child in Texas, you’ve probably researched the private adoption process. You likely found it complex and intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. We’re here to help.

There’s a formal, legal process that’s followed when adopting babies in Texas. While every adoption journey is unique, these steps are common to many private adoptions.

Step 1: Find the Best Texas Adoption Professional

There are lots of private Texas adoption services to choose from, and selecting the right one is important. That’s because your adoption specialist will be with you throughout the adoption process.

Many families choose to use a full-service agency like American Adoptions. We provide all the services needed to complete your adoption. American Adoptions is fully licensed in Texas. That means we can help you locate adoption opportunities and complete the required home study.

Below is a list of the types of adoption professionals used for private domestic adoption in Texas:

• Adoption attorneys and law firms: There are legal processes that must be completed to adopt, which makes adoption attorneys necessary.

• Home study providers: Home study providers perform the required adoption home studies before any private adoptions in Texas. Because we are a full-service agency, we can complete your home study.

• National private adoption agencies: These adoption agencies, like American Adoptions, search nationwide for adoption opportunities and arrange communication between expectant birth mothers and prospective adoptive families.

• Local private adoption agencies: Local agencies focus on state and local communities. Local agencies may offer more limited services than national agencies due to smaller staff sizes.

Another benefit of working with American Adoptions is that we’re a national adoption agency. That means you’ll have access to more resources, and the potential adoption opportunities are greater and more diverse than when working with a local adoption agency.

Step 2: Complete a Home Study

A home study is necessary is required for all private adoptions in Texas. These studies are done by state-licensed home study professionals. American Adoptions is licensed to perform adoption home studies in Texas. When you work with our team, you won’t have to find a separate home study provider.

Home studies are thorough, but they’re a necessary part of the process. The average home study includes not only a pre-placement study, but post-placement visits as well. These post-placement visits evaluate the child’s adjustment to the adoptive home.

Your adoption specialist can prepare for some parts of your home study. The home study process for private adoption in Texas consists of three main parts:

• Home inspection: A home study professional or social worker visits the home to assess its safety and your family dynamics. Your home study provider may give advice on how to childproof your home and improve safety.

• Document review: You’ll submit documents such as birth certificates, health records, marriage licenses, financial records and other legal paperwork. There must be a background check on everyone in the home over the age of 12.

• In-home interview: The home study professional or social worker conducts interviews with everyone in the household to ensure the environment for the adoptee will be healthy.

Once your home study is complete, your family is considered an active potential adoptive family in the American Adoptions database. As a national organization we work with hundreds of prospective birth parents at once. That can shorten your wait time for an adoption match.

Online adoptive family profiles can help you realize your goals in private infant adoption in Texas. They give birth parents needed information about your family and serve as a starting point for a bond that may result in a successful adoption.

Our team features media specialists who will help you assemble a compelling adoptive family video profile. That will help you get the attention of expectant birth parents seeking to place a child.

Step 3: Waiting for an Adoption Opportunity

When the home study is finished and your adoptive family profile is live, you’ll be on your way to private adoption in Texas.

Expectant birth parents seeking to place a child through infant adoption in Texas are in control of finding the best adoptive parents for their child. Our goal is to present your family to birth parents, seek matches, and limit your wait time for an adoption opportunity.

The wait time in an adoption is the time between becoming an active family and finding a match with an expectant birth mother. It’s sometimes brief but can be prolonged. The duration of wait times in a Texas baby adoption is influenced by many factors, but our adoption specialists work to see that your wait time is as short as possible.

When you’re chosen by a birth family, you’ll be presented with an adoption opportunity. At that moment, your adoption experience will accelerate, and you’ll be closer to growing your family.

Step 4: Contact Before the Birth [Open Adoption]

In any adoption, it’s important that expectant birth parents and prospective adoptive parents communicate freely. Starting communication prior to birth is important for all parties. Different types of newborn baby adoption in Texas have different levels of contact. The most important thing is that everyone involved is comfortable.

There are three types of private baby adoption in Texas. Those types of private adoption in Texas include:

• Closed adoption, with no contact between the birth parents and the adoptive parents

• Open adoption, in which there is frequent contact before and after the child’s birth

• Semi-open adoption, which is neither totally open nor totally closed and is mediated by an adoption professional

Today, closed adoptions are rare. Open and semi-open private adoptions in Texas are now the norm. The reason is that open and semi-open adoptions have key benefits for everyone involved.

We encourage all adoptive families to consider open adoption because the benefits of open adoption for adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents are well-documented.

Step 5: Birth and Placement [Holding Your Child for the First Time]

In any private adoption in Texas, the hospital stay is an emotional high point for everyone involved. Your American Adoptions specialist will help you cope with the emotions you may feel as an adoptive parent who must also respect the feelings of the birth parents.

Even when birth parents feel they’ve made the right decision by placing their child, meeting their baby can elicit powerful emotions. For the adoptive family, there may be a push-and-pull dynamic of joy mixed with sorrow for the birth family.

The birth mother has rights and they should be honored throughout the birth process. Adoptive parents should be sensitive and flexible. Any plan can change, and adoptive parents should understand the emotions of birth parents at birth. Your adoption specialist can coach you throughout the hospital stay and delivery.

After the birth, the birth mother offers consent for private adoption in Texas. Texas adoption law mandates that the adoption papers cannot be signed until 48 hours after birth. In some cases, the rights of the birth father are terminated before birth.

Once adoption papers are signed by the birth mother, the adoptive parents take physical custody of the child.

Step 6: Post-Placement and Finalization of Private Adoption in Texas

Even though your child has been placed in your home, there are still two steps left in the adoption process.

1. Post-placement visits

2. Finalizing the adoption

In Texas, post-placement visits to the adoptive home are required after placement. The first post-placement visit occurs within a week of placement, and several more are conducted in the six months before the finalization hearing. At the six-month mark, your attorney can request a finalization hearing.

At this hearing, your private adoption in Texas will be reviewed to ensure all adoption laws were followed. For example, if the child is part of an Indigenous American tribe, the adoption must be cleared according to the Indian Child Welfare Act. If the adoption crosses state lines, it must satisfy requirements for interstate adoption mandated by the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.

Once the adoption is declared legal, the adoption decree will be signed by the judge and the private adoption in Texas will be finalized. At that point, your child will become a full-fledged member of your family, both emotionally and legally.

Begin Your Adoption Journey in Texas Today

By adopting a child from Texas through private domestic adoption, you’ll expand your family and provide a child with a future full of love and opportunity. At American Adoptions, nothing makes us happier than seeing successful adoptions come to fruition.

Our team of caring, experienced adoption specialists will offer the resources you need to enjoy a successful adoption experience. American Adoptions is uniquely positioned to help you adopt a baby in Texas in a swift, compassionate, and ethical manner.  

To learn more about the ways that American Adoptions can help you with private domestic adoption in Texas, speak with one of our adoption specialists today by getting free information here.

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