Simply put, Public Adoption is when a public adoption agency or government arranges an adoption. Adoptions were arranged like this in the past. These days, most couples adopt using private adoption agencies, especially if they are looking for a child overseas. There are fewer choices available in public adoption, which usually focus primarily on the children’s safety and welfare. The main priority is to find ideal parents for the child, rather than looking for the perfect child for the couple adopting. In public adoption, it is the agency who take over the whole process of choosing, and parents do not get much of a look in or given enough options.

In the public adoption process, prospective parents still need to meet the basic requirements during their screening, to be approved and deemed acceptable. This is regardless of where the public adoption is taking place. An information session is set up for them to attend, so that all the relevant information which is very important can be collated. This is required for the public domestic adoption process as the parents who are to adopt must pass the complete police clearance and medical reports on their health. They will also need to attend the adoption classes so as to complete a full family and social history, as this is all vital information which is needed to build up a portfolio of the couple. Personal references should also be provided which gives a good character reference. An adoption practitioner is also assigned to the adopting parents so that a home study can be carried out. Once they have met all the requirements, a child can then be placed with them in their home. There is, however, a probationary period in the public adoption, for the placement of the child. Follow-up visits by the adoption practitioner are made for continual assessment during this period. Once the probation period is over, the parents must then submit a post-placement report to the relevant parents in charge of the adoption. Once all the requirements have been met and everything is found to be in order, an adoption order from is given to the adoptive parents.

Usually, there is no charge for adopting through a public agency. The entire process for a public adoption can be quite a lengthy process which a couple must be prepared for. It also depends on what the adoptive parents are looking for a child so if they are not too choosy, the time it takes to adopt can improve somewhat. It can take up to a year and sometimes more to complete the home study along with the information sessions. All this depends on what the parents who are adopting are looking for in a child – if they are wanting a newborn child that is healthy, there is a minimum wait of about eight years. Newborns are few and far between. There are many children with special needs so an immediate placement can usually be found.

There are a lot of advantages to a public adoption, as usually there is no cost involved with a public agency. Those who are eager to adopt, and willing to adopt a child with special needs, find that the time it takes for the whole process is very short and more favourable. Another advantage in public adoption is that the mother is more likely to have given up their child with good reason and not look back on that decision. Most of these children given up for public adoption are looked after by the state as they have been subject to abuse, neglect or even abandoned. Their parents may have been declared unfit and the child taken into care for their own welfare and safety.

The disadvantages of public adoption are the restrictions that are imposed and the rules regarding child placement, the types of children that are available and the wait involved, and also it depends on what the adoptive parents are looking for in a child. They usually have a picture of their ideal child.

Tags: Adoption, adoption facts, open, public adoption, public adoption process