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Hoping to adopt a baby?
The Adoption
Center is currently seeking families interested in joining our minority program.
We are particularly interested in African American and mixed race
couples. Please call for more
information.
Building your family through adoption
For more than 20 years, the Adoption Center has helped bring families together in Illinois and Indiana. We are a private licensed adoption agency that offers
free and confidential birthmother services for women of all ages
facing unexpected pregnancy, teenage pregnancy and abortion alternatives.
We also offer professional adoption services (including homestudy
services in Illinois and
Indiana) for couples and individuals looking to adopt a
baby. Our caring and experienced licensed adoption services team will guide and support you throughout the adoption process. Our primary goal is to facilitate compassionate adoptions, making the process as comfortable and worry-free as possible.

Adoption Services: Our track record...
We have been a leader in adoption services for over 20 years and
boast an impressive record of success. In 2005, we facilitated 64
adoptions. We facilitated another 47 adoptions in 2006, 39 more
adoptions in 2007 and 47 adoptions in 2008. Each year, the average
wait to adopt has been under one year. During the first quarter of
this year, we have been very busy placing babies for adoption.
Over 20 of our waiting families have adopted a baby in the first
three months of 2009.
Domestic Adoption
Many prospective parents rule out domestic adoption because they
assume it is not a viable option. At the Adoption Center for Family
Building, domestic adoption is not only viable, but it often takes
only one year or less. Although our services include international
adoption homestudies, the majority of the infants we place each
year are through our domestic adoption program.
We emphasize preparation and education for everyone involved in
the adoption process. Your personal advocate will guide you
through the steps of an adoption, including the homestudy and licensing
required by Illinois law. A homestudy
is also required for Indiana families seeking to adopt a child, but foster care licensing
is not part of the Indiana homestudy process.
Homestudies in Illinois and Indiana
A homestudy is a written report that gives a current snapshot
of the family seeking to adopt. It is conducted by an agency social
worker who reviews your emotional, physical and financial resources,
and prepares you for the adoption process. The homestudy is not
intimidating and provides valuable insights into how adoption works
and what adoption means to a family.
At the Adoption Center for Family Building, an experienced social
worker will assist you with either a domestic or an international
homestudy. We strive to make the adoption process affordable, expedient
and worry-free.
Prospective adoptive parents are required by law to have a homestudy
for all agency, international and private interstate adoptions.
Fees for Illinois and Indiana homestudy services are listed below
in question #21.
Adoption Benefits and Tax Credit
Federal Tax Credit: The Internal
Revenue Service offers a tax credit to eligible families to help
offset adoption expenses. The adoption tax credit may apply to
both domestic and international adoptions, and is taken in the
year the adoption is finalized. Eligibility is based on income.
For more information about this benefit, visit the website
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc607.html or speak with an accountant.
Employee Adoption Benefits:
Some companies offer their employees an adoption benefit. These
companies typically reimburse the employee for adoption services
expenses up to a specified amount; the typical range is between
$2,000 and $10,000. Check with your employee benefits administrator
about whether you qualify for an adoption stipend.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA):
This allows ”eligible” employees to take off up to
12 work-weeks in any 12-month period for the adoption of a child.
For more information, visit www.opm.gov/oca/leave/HTML/fmlafac2.asp
New Embryo Donation Program
Embryo donation is an alternative route to family building. It
helps couples unable to conceive carry a pregnancy to term. A relatively
new procedure, embryo donation involves using another couple's
embryos in order to have a child. The donated embryos are transferred
into the uterus of the recipient using a process called frozen
embryo transfer. Embryo donation is often chosen by couples who
are unable to afford conventional reproductive treatments or who
have been unsuccessful with Invitro Fertilization treatments.
The Adoption Center for Family Building conducts homestudies
for intended parents pursuing Embryo Donation. The Center will
make referrals to infertility centers and legal resources upon
request. The Adoption Center has established an advisory committee
to plan and implement the first open embryo donation program in
Illinois. If you are interested in becoming an
embryo donor or a
recipient of a donated embryo,
please contact our offices for more information.
To obtain more information about
adoption, and to learn more about the Adoption Center for Family Building, click on any of the
commonly asked questions below or send an email: info@centerforfamily.com :
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What
is unique about the Adoption Center and what services do you offer?
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What
types of children are available for adoption?
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Do
you currently have babies available for adoption?
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How
long does it take to adopt a baby?
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How
do you locate birthmothers?
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How
many children have you placed?
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What
does an adoption cost?
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Are
the children available to adopt born in the USA or are
they from other countries?
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Who
is eligible to adopt?
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Do
you work families hoping to adopt in states other than
Illinois and Indiana?
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Do
you offer birthmother services in states other than Illinois
and Indiana?
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What
would we know about the baby's health?
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Do
we need a homestudy to adopt?
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What
is your policy regarding open adoption?
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How
old is the baby when you take him/her home?
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Does
the birthfather have any rights?
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What
happens after the baby is placed for adoption?
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Are
your adoptions confidential?
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What
happens during the initial consultation?
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What
is the cost of adopting a baby in Illinois or Indiana?
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What
does a homestudy cost?
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How
do we begin the adoption process?
Getting Started.... Hoping
to adopt a baby? Want to get started? Come in and meet
with an agency director (see red button on right side side of this
page for "Open
House" dates) or schedule an initial consultation to jumpstart the
adoption process.
If
you are new to the adoption process and have lots of questions,
the open house is a great place to begin. Your thirty minute private
meeting will enable you to get answers to your questions. We're
happy to discuss the children available for adoption, the process of
a domestic adoption, the homestudy,
the cost of adopting a baby or your concerns about open adoption.
We'll take the time to answer your questions, ease your concerns
and treat all of your information confidentially.
If you are ready to initiate a homestudy,
simply download the application (see red button on right
side of this page) and mail to our Illinois address along with
the $375 application fee. The application triggers the homestudy
process.
For a more in-depth meeting, you may choose to schedule
an initial consultation. This meeting
will help you to evaluate whether the Center is the right adoption
agency for you. The meeting typically takes
between two and three hours and the fee for the initial
consultation is $350. Please contact our office by
email: info@centerforfamily.com or
call us to schedule either an open house or an initial
consultation: You can reach us by calling our Illinois office at
(847) 674-3231
or our Indiana office at
(219) 795-9900.
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What
is unique about the Adoption Center and what services do you offer?
The Adoption Center is a small, non-sectarian, non-traditional
adoption agency licensed in both Illinois and Indiana.
Our goal is to empower birth and adoptive families to make
sound choices for themselves. We differ from other adoption agencies
by encouraging prospective adoptive parents to be proactive in
their search for a child to adopt. We employ specially tailored
advertising and networking techniques to enable our clients to
"connect" with women and teenagers facing an
unplanned pregnancy.
We offer a full range of
birthmother services
including adoption counseling, education, assistance with housing,
pre-natal care, and transportation to doctors visits,
discharging baby from the hospital, placement and post placement
support and referrals to community and government assistance
programs. Services to adoptive parents include: homestudy
services, adoptive parent education, support and
counseling, agency assisted as well as traditional placements,
post placement services including court reports and handling the
paperwork for interstate adoptions.
- What types of children
are available to adopt? Mostly
newborns of many different races and ethnic backgrounds, Many of the children we place for adoption are Caucasian,
others are biracial, African American, Asian or Latin.

- Do you have babies
available for adoption now? We
have an active list of families waiting to adopt. When birthmothers
come to us seeking services, we share the profiles of our clients,
enabling the birthmother to choose the adoptive parents. If
she is interested in you, we will call you with her available
background information. If you want to proceed, you would speak
with her, meet her and we would move the adoption forward.

- How long is the
wait to adopt a baby? The
waiting time varies but the typical wait in 2007 was 9-12 months.
In 2006, the average time to adopt was just under one year.
The prior year (2005) the average wait to adopt was 10 months.

- Do
you offer birthmother counseling services? Yes,
we offer birthparent counseling services throughout Illinois
and Indiana. Case management and adoption counseling services
are available to birthmothers before, during and following
an adoptive
placement. All services are tailored to the birthmothers needs.
She is given help finding a doctor, housing or obtaining community
services and a medical card as needed. Our birthmother advocates
are available to see birthmothers in their home, at the hospital
or in other convenient locations.

- How
many children have you placed for adoption? Over
the years, we have been involved in many hundreds of adoptions.
In 2006, we were involved in the placement of 47 newborns,
we placed an additional 39 babies in 2007, and another 47 adoptions
in 2008. Most of our adoptive families (75%) adopt a
baby within one year of starting the process.

- What
does an adoption cost? Last
year, the median cost of an adoption was $23,800 including
legal fees and court costs, This figure also includes agency
adoption fees, medical expenses, birth mother expenses, and
adoption advertising costs.

- Where do most of
the birthmothers reside? In
2007, most of our birthmothers (86%)-- who placed their baby
for adoption-- resided in either Illinois or Indiana. The remaining
14% resided in other states including Michigan, Wisconsin and
Ohio. The Adoption Center offers free, confidential
birthmother services to women residing in Illinois or
Indiana. If the birthmother resides in another state, services
are available through an adoption agency or private counselor
in her area.

- Who is eligible to
adopt? The
minimum age to adopt is 25 years old. Adopting parents must
be emotionally and financially stable, and able to meet all
homestudy and licensing criteria. The Adoption Center has fewer
restrictions than the more traditional adoption agencies. We
work with married couples and singles, ranging in age from
25 to over 50, of many different religious backgrounds including
Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical Christian and Jewish. Over
a third of the couples looking to adopt already have at least
one other child.

- Do
you place children with families who reside in states other
than Illinois and Indiana? Yes,
every year we place some babies for adoption with families
who are not residents of Illinois or Indiana. For the family's
convenience, we handle these situations by scheduling the first
and second consultation on two consecutive days. Also, families
residing outside of Illinois and Indiana must be ready to adopt,
as demonstrated by a valid homestudy completed in their home
state.

- Do you work with
birthmothers outside of Illinois or Indiana? Yes.
When a birthmother does not reside in Illinois or Indiana,
we help her to locate an adoption agency and/or an adoption
attorney in her home state to represent her interests.

- What will we know
about the baby's health before the placement? The
Adoption Center gets health information from the birthmothers
and the birthfathers whenever possible. Pre-natal records are
typically requested from the physician or clinic and shared
with the adoptive parents. The baby's hospital records are
usually available upon discharge. The Adoption Center requires
HIV testing performed on either the birthmother or baby before
we will place a baby for adoption.

- Will we need a
homestudy in order to adopt? Yes,
either from the Adoption Center or from a licensed adoption
agency in your home state.

- What is the policy
regarding open adoption? The
Adoption Center supports open adoption, but does not dictate
the degree of openness in any adoption. Those decisions are
made by birthparents and adopting parents .

- How old is the
baby when you take him/her home? The
baby typically goes home from the hospital with the adopting
parents on the second or third day after birth. Final surrenders
in Illinois are taken no sooner than 72 hours after birth.
An Illinois placement (for adoption) prior to that time is
a legal risk. Although it is common practice, adoptive parents
are not required to take the baby home prior to final surrenders.
In Indiana, consents for adoption are typically signed when
the birthmother is ready to be discharged from the hospital.

- What about the
birthfathers rights? When
a birthfather is identified in an adoption, we attempt to meet
with him and obtain medical and social history. In Illinois,
a birthfather may sign an unborn surrender prior to the birth.
Last year about half of all birthfathers consented to the adoption.
If a birth father does not cooperate by signing the adoption
paperwork, the attorney for the adopting parents arranges to
have him served papers by a sheriff or a process server. If
the biological father is not named, the attorney is required
to publish on an unnamed father for thirty days following the
birth. The Putative Father Registry is also consulted for any
registration by the birthfather. Following these steps, the
birthfather's rights will be terminated in adoption court and
the adoption may proceed.
In Indiana,
a birthfather may be served with a pre-birth notice, but he may
not sign a consent to the adoption until after the birth. He
has thirty days from the date of receipt of notice to file a
paternity action in court. Once served, the birthfather is not
entitled to any further notification of the adoption. An unnamed
birthfather has thirty days to file with the Putative Father
Registry. There is also a requirement in Indiana to publish on
an unnamed father.
- What happens after the placement? You
will go to court with your adoption attorney and receive
an interim order giving you temporary legal custody. The
adoption will be finalized six months after the placement.
The Adoption Center will provide post-placement services
during the six month period before finalization of your adoption.
We will meet with you once in your home, and you would be
expected to participate
in 5 monthly group meetings held in our office during
the six month post placement period.

- Can we be assured
of confidentiality? Yes.
The Adoption Center staff will give birthparents your first
names and other non-identifying information. It is your choice
whether to disclose last names and other identifying information.
Last year, most of our clients chose to participate in an open
adoption. If the adoption is not fully disclosed, the Adoption
Center is able to act as the intermediary for the exchange
of information, letters and pictures.

- What
happens during the initial adoption consultation? You
will meet with Tobi or Maggie (our Directors) to discuss your
options and you will learn about the process so that you are
able to determine the right path for yourself. The initial
consultation typically takes between two and three hours and
the fee is $350. If you decide to proceed with an adoption
following the initial consultation, you would submit an application
to begin the homestudy, and start down the path to adopting
a child.

- What does an adoption
cost? Agency
fees vary depending on services rendered. Fees for a traditional
agency placement typically range from $7200 (minority program)
to about $17,500 (not including the home study fee). The total
fee for an agency assisted adoption ranges from $4500 to $8,500.
Additional adoption costs will vary but typically include birthmother
and agency expenses, the fee for the homestudy fee, legal and
adoption court costs and advertising.

- What
does a homestudy cost? An
Illinois homestudy costs $2,350 including all post placement
adoption services. There is also an application fee of $375,
for a total cost of $2,725. An Illinois international homestudy
costs $2,975, including the application fee, two post adoption
placement meetings and reports. An Indiana home study costs
$1,500 (plus the $375 application fee) and each post placement
visit is $300. An Indiana international homestudy costs $2075
including the application fee. This fee does not include post
placement services.

- How do we begin
the adoption process? If
you would like to schedule an initial consultation or attend
a free
"open house" with one of our Directors, please call
between the hours of 9:00am and 4:30pm, Monday through Friday.
If you need homestudy services only, please download our agency
application and send it to our Illinois address along with the
$375 application fee. If you have already connected with a birthmother
in Illinois or Indiana, please call us to discuss our birthparent
counseling services. To reach us call: (847)
674-3231 or (219) 795-9900 (Indiana)
or send us an email: info@centerforfamily.com.

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LOCATIONS:
The Adoption Center provides services throughout Illinois and Indiana.
Chicago: Cook, Lake, DuPage, Jo
Daviess, Kane, McHenry, Winnebago county (Rockford, Joliet, Waukegan, Elgin,
Woodstock, Aurora), Central and Southern Illinois (Bloomington, Danville, Decatur,
Champaign, Peoria, Springfield, Belleville, Alton, Marion), Northwest
Indiana (Hammond, Ft. Wayne, Merrillville, Highland, Dyer, Hobart, Valparaiso, La Porte, Porter County,
Lake County, Highland, Munster, East Chicago, Gary, Michigan City,
Northern Indiana South Bend, Kokomo, Ft. Wayne, Goshen,
Central and
Southern Indiana (Indianapolis, Bloomington, Lafayette, Evansville,
Anderson, Terre Haute).
About the
Adoption Center
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