Trying to adopt but havent been married a year!?

My husband and I have been married since June of 2008. We have been together for 4 years and have owned 2 homes together. The one we are in now we have been in for 2 1/2 years. We want to adopt a newborn, My question is can we have a home study done without being married for 1 year? We live in Louisiana and all i can find on the law is you must be at 21 years of age, single, married, divorced or widowed and must be financially able to provide for yourself. also must be physically, emotionally and mentally able to care for a child. The law says nothing about how long you must be married! I have sent an email to a home study place in Louisiana asking and they havent really answered my question. Its a simple one, do we have to be married one year before having a home study done? The way we see it is that by the time we get the home study over with it will have been 1 year of marriage. One answer i did get was that if we had a birthmother found and she knew our situation then the judge should allow it.. but the problem is we cant find a birthmother because our agency wont show our profile to any until we find out for sure we can have the home study done. Also are there any websites that have birthmothers on them? that we could connect to ourselves?
Additional Details
Because almost every state has the law that your must be married for one year to adopt! and just because i havent read it doesnt mean it doesnt exist!

â™¥â™¥Ritaâ™¥â™¥

If it is not in state law...then it could be in agency policy. As others have said, keep looking and knocking on agency doors.

Good luck!!

Opedial

You have to prove that you are in a stable relationship. Perhaps each state varies. If you want a newborn though, people will likely be "looking" for someone who is married longer.

Why not consider foster care?

Randy B

It doesn't have to dictate how long you have been married because that will be reflected in things like maturity, stability of relationships and your emotional stability. All of this, to be considered objectively and accurately normally requires that you be married for more then a year to show that you are stable and mature.

You also make it sound like it's going to be a short process. I assure you, it takes time to adopt and even more time if you want to adopt an infant so if you expect it to be a quick process that also reflects on your lack of maturity.

Olivia J

Where did you get this idea that you have to be married a year then? If the law doesn't say it, and the reply you got didn't mention it.. then what's the problem?

mom of many

I do know that for step parent adoptions you must be married for a year or two first but not sure for regular adoptions. Call an agency and they usually have big meetings with all kinds info on adoptions or they can send you all the info and the laws for your state. But...if your state says there is a time of a year or two then it doesn't matter if you find your own birth mom or not, you'd still have to follow the laws. Most states require home studies and sometimes classes. Because of all the issues with illegal adoptions, most states are pretty strict on their rules and don't bend them. Good luck and if you must wait then it'll all be worth it. In the meantime, make copies of all info....birth certificates, marriage certificate, drivers licenses, insurance info on house, car, medical.

BLW_KAM

The law in Louisiana reads:

Who May Adopt
Citation: Ch. Code Art. 1198, 1221
A single person, who is age 18 or older, or a married couple jointly may adopt, either privately or through an agency.

There is no mention of the length of time a couple must be married.

There are no websites where expectant women "advertise".

Be prepared for some harsh answers. (The term "birthmother" is despised by many natural mothers here and there are others who despise adoption in general.)

durdenslabs

LMAO - I'm in Louisiana as well and we're starting the adoption process with the orientation on Feb 14th!!! Small world, huh?

Anyways...if you are adopting from the foster system you don't have to be married for any certain amount of time. I don't think you have to be married for any length of time in Louisiana. Go to www.dss.louisiana.gov
There are a lot of answers on that site.
If you want to go through an agency, or possibly find a birthmother, go to www.adoptuskids.org

Have you considered adopting an older child? We are going to adopt a boy between the ages of 5 and 10. We've already found 3 in the photolistings and we hope at least one is matched with us.

Adopting from foster care is also a lot less expensive and takes less time to get a child placed. paperwork and homestudy take up to 120 days then it can take up to 1 year to have a child placed with you (usually a lot sooner).

Adoptive Father

My wife and I ran into a similar situation. Without going into all the details we're older and knew we couldn't have biological children. We wanted to adopt sooner rather than later because we're not getting any younger. My only suggestion is to keep looking for an agency that will work with you. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

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