Questions and Answers
How can I get Chosen? You will be chosen by the Birth family whom is working with the agency who has the situation. You will be given all contact info for agency or attorney. They or I will present your to the family of the child. Many Services will not give you direct contact with agency till you are chosen for a situation and you have no time to look over important paperwork. This is not the case with LBOH.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is a profile? A Profile is a scrapbook that will give the birth family a peak into your life. It is about 5-10 pages long. Photo of you and your family, Dear Birth mom letter, photo’s of your home, animals, other children, extended family members. Remember this is the birth families first look into your life. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is the cost of adoption? This depends on many factors. Agency fee, legals, birth mom expenses. Does she have health insurance? $7000,00 - $35,000 I have also seen higher but depends on Agency, Living Expenses if there are any and Legal Fees..
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are there Tax benefit of Adoption? Yes, there is a $10,960 tax credit that can be claimed in the year you finalize your adoption. This can be carried over 5 yrs till you get this back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How long will the process take? The adoption process is different for everyone. Just like natural child birth, you may have a short adoption wait or your wait maybe longer. If you are open to any gender child, any race and flexible on age, medical or drug exposure your wait is lesser for the more you are open to.
What is the legal process? You must retain your own legal representation unless the agency has a legal option. Agency or Attorney will help you through all legal aspects.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can the birth parent(s) come back at a later date and take their child back? This is rare and thanks to media has been blown way out of preparation. In all states there are laws about this. You need to check that states law but all states have a time frame that birth family would need to prove duress. Most states have revoke times from 24 hours-30days. 72 hours being the average.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is the difference between an open and a closed adoption? Open adoptions the birth family has a relationship with the Adoptive family. This maybe photos, letters, phone calls and even visits. All families Open Adoptions are different but I am here to tell you it is a very nice thing to have. Feel free to ask me about our open adoption with my daughter Chenise’s birth mom. Closed Adoption is no contact at all with birth family.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When do I get to take the baby home? Most of the time you can leave the hospital with the child and must stay in the state the baby was born in for at least 7-10 working days till you get your ICPC clearance to leave the state. Then you may go home. If baby is born in same state you live you may go home when baby and birth mom are discharged. In some states such as KY and TX(Depending on Agency you work with) you may have a longer stay and baby may be placed in a private care till you get permission to take baby with you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Will I know the medical history of the birth parent(s)?Agency and Attorney’s do all they can to get you the information up-front. There maybe cases that a baby is already born or birth mom didn’t have much care before birth. The HIPPO privacy laws are also making it harder to get medical information released as quickly as we would all like. There maybe times when you need to make a quick decision and at that time you will need to decided what is right for your family based on limited info, but if at all possible all efforts will be made to get you what you need to feel comfortable in your decision making process.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do I qualify for adoption? Every adoption agency and attorney has their own policy’s but I am sure that your family will qualify with someone. There is a child for everyone. Never give up your dream.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How many agency’s will I been working with? You will be working with more than one at a time if you are interested in a situation and your profile is not chosen for that one particular situation , you will be kept on hold in case another one would open in the future. If you are only contracted with the Referral Program, fee is due at match of any agency you have been referred to by me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is Your Fee for Referral Program?
I charge $400.00 once you and the agency or attorney have agreed to move forward with the situation and have a $100.00 Application Fee to cover calls and faxes to agencies. Time spent in search of the perfect Agency or Attorney that has the situation for your family. I am there for families many times after hours to answer any questions or concerns they have during their journey. I will help you to the best of my knowledge or will find the resouces to do so. We have a closed support group for our registered families.
-------------------
What do I need to do to get started?
You will need a Updated Home Study, $100.00 registration fee , Completed Application, 2 Color Profiles with Dear Birthmother Letter. Application must be filled out, signed and dated.
What if I don't have a Home Study? If you are a Ohio Resident We can help you obtain a Ohio Home Study.
Please call Betty for more information. If you are in another state we can recommend an agency or refer you to someone whom can help you with that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What happens next? You will be added to the data base , you will receive all emails of situations available before they are ever added to the web site. If you see something that you would like to learn more about or submit for you will email or call me. We will move from there in speaking about what will need to be done, all situations and agencies require different things. There maybe additional paperwork to fill out for some situations. Almost all the agencies I work with waive application fees for my families. If this is a Expectant Mother that LBOH is working with we will follow all steps in getting Proof Of Pregnancy, And everything possible to a obtain all Medical Records.
If you have additional questions that were not covered, please feel free to call me or email me anytime.
Betty Smith
Founder/Owner Return Home