Can I adopt in the US yet...and if so how long on average will it take?

I am 25 years old and I have a two year old daughter. My husband and I have been married for seven years and been together for nine. We would really love to adopt a baby boy very soon to balance out our family. Getting pregnant with my daughter took a year of fertility treatments because of my PCOS and we have always wanted a big family so we thought we'd go ahead with adoption. I have four sisters and probably 20 girl cousins and my hubby also has a family full of girls so we'd love to introcuce a boy into the family.

Am I elligible? We absolutely want to adopt a newborn. At 25 am I at the right age? And can I adopt a newborn even though I already have a child?

Also my husband and I would be very interested in adopting a bi-racial, African American, or child of another race. We are both Caucasian and we know the sad fact is in this country the Caucasian children are usually the ones adopted first. Would we be able to specify this? Can we specify wanting a little boy of African or some other decent?

And where do I start? I live in Ohio where can I go to get more information?
Additional Details
Also my husband is 24, so a year younger than me. Can we still apply?

DevonChaos

Let me get this straight... You want a special ordered male child of African descent? Try the cabbage patch.

If you truly want to help a child, it shouldn't matter their age, gender, race, etc...

It sounds like you are only thinking of yourself and your husband here. I don't hear anything about helping a child. "WE"... "I"... Any child you adopt is going to have a whole history and family that exsisted long before they came into your life. You cannot be so self involved and handle this properly.

ETA: Thanks for the email, hon. Theres nothing quite like being called an idiot to make me rethink things. I have, and I have nothing to change. BTW, I am a 30 year old female, and a mother. I am also an adoptee. You can think what you want about me, however, your sweet little email made me think much less of you.

ETA: You are 25, eh? How come you say you are 19 on other questions? Hmm... Perhaps that WAS troll I smelled all along... AND I QUOTE:

"Could I be? I'm currently making 200 a week I have too many bills my husband is in school with a bad paying job and my health isn't the greatest. I'm only 20 so it would be a nightmare. I've tried to be responsible but now I'm too scared to take a test."

Ready to adopt? No. Troll? Quite possibly.

Gaia Raain

Would you like a side of lies with that order? That'll be $40,000 at the next window, please.

BTW, that email you sent me was AWESOME! I had to forward it to my friends. It made me laugh. Sorry you don't like honesty. Keep pluggin' away at this "I want...memememememe" thing. Let us know how that works out for ya.

Andraya

Am I elligible?

Maybe, talk to an agency.

We absolutely want to adopt a newborn.

You and 95% of people looking to adopt, good luck with that.

At 25 am I at the right age?

Depends if you have done your homework. Have you researched parenting a child of another race? Have you researched attachment and abandonment issues? Have you researched adopting at all? Your questions suggest no so I suggest taking a long hard look at all the links Sunny has provided you with.

And can I adopt a newborn even though I already have a child?

An agency will most likely be willing to work with you, they want your cash. Will a pregnant mother be willing to hand over her child to you? That is her choice and her choice alone, nobody here can speak for anyone contemplating adoption.

Your question comes off as though you are looking to walk into an agency and pick out a child through a nursery window...

Ohh look at that one! A boy! An AA boy! OHhhhhh I'll take that one!

anastasia beaverhausen-the real1

man! are you selfish! "i want....i need" yuck. i'm glad i was already adopted so i'm out of the running.

Looney Tunes

It's always a newborn......

COMON people! Let's be at least a little reasonable this time....She did say she would take "any race"...newborn that is..

It's always a newborn.....

snowwillow20

Good luck with that.
You have a lot of research to do. I think it's really hard to get a baby unless you are really wealthy.
More mothers are keeping their babies now. It is a proven fact that babies suffer loss when given up for adoption.

magic pointe shoes

I suppose not only do you want a fresh from the womb newborn son, but want to horn in on the delivery room too.

Randy B

Can you adopt? Sure, if you meet the criteria. That will involve (at least) a home study, clear criminal records check for both of you, reference checks, credit checks (in some areas) and of course the fees involved unless you go through a foster care adoption. Age wouldn't make a difference in your case because by the time you find the child you are looking for, based upon your shopping list, you could be well into your 30s or older.

You must also remember that the process is not just about what you want but also what the needs of the child is. They will match you with a child based upon not only wants but also, more importantly, the needs and the child. The more narrow you make your requests the longer things will take and with phrases like "we absolutely want to adopt a newborn" I can see a long, long wait ahead of you.

cmc

We adopted a baby in California and it took less than a year. However the wait is unpredictable since normally the mother chooses the family for her baby. We were lucky to be chosen quickly and that there were no complications with the adoption. My daughter will be 3 next month.

In terms of gender I know many agencies don't allow you to specify. That is in part because sometime the mom doesn't know the gender and they don't want the mom or baby to be "rejected". Also they figure if you had a bio baby you couldn't choose (unless you did some high-tech IVF). In terms of race, the more types of children you are open to, the higher the chance you will be chosen more quickly. But do educate yourself on transracial adoption before you decide. There is an organization called PACT in Oakland Calfornia that does education around transracial adoption, and they have some information online.

The place to start it twofold. Start reading about adoption, and start looking at local agencies in your area. We started by taking a 4 wk workshop on adoption that helped us understand the issues around adoption, and helped us decide we wanted to adopt domestically. We found the class through an organization called Resolve which is a support organization for infertility. It is important to make sure that anyone in adoption you are working with is ethical since there can be a lot of coercion or pregnant women and some really outrageous costs associated with adoption depending on who you are dealing with. Also you can look into foster care adoption, but waits may be longer for a baby.

Sam

Go to http://adoptionreasons.blogspot.com/ and you can download a really informative ebook about adoption for FREE.

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