Child Adoption Requirements

Despite what you may have been warned about by adoption books or your friends in the know, adopting a child doesn't require a secret password. Adopting a child isn't a right, either. Some couples may be received more favorably by agencies and experience quicker placement than a single-parent adopter, but most adoptions have the same basic requirements. On a subjective level, paramount requirements for child adoption are emotionally and financially stable and loving parents. On the objective end, child adoption requirements are regulated by the state and country or countries in which an adoption takes place. Certain agencies may have additional requirements. Although, exceptions on the agency level can be made under certain circumstances.

All adoptions require a homestudy, which is an evaluation of prospective adoptive parents' home, lifestyle and capacity to adopt and raise a child. Certain international adoptions may also require a homestudy by a partner agency of the child's country of origin. On average, a homestudy costs $2,500.

Agencies may have specific requirements, such as age, religious affiliation, marital status and so forth.

Another player in child adoption are birth parents. If a couple is seeking to adopt an infant, they may be working with a birth mother. A birth mother has the right to choose whom she places the child with.

And, finally, future adopters should have their own child adoption requirements. If an adopter isn't comfortable with the agency or birth mother, then they should forgo the adoption and look for a better fit.