I WANT TO ADOPT
The process of adopting can be overwhelming for everyone involved. At Open Arms Adoptions, our goal is to provide clear, concise and transparent information.
Many families have similar questions when first reaching out about adoption:
Adopting a child from the foster care system (who is legally free) costs very little and nearly all families receive some type of financial support to do so. Adopting an infant, though, can be an expensive venture.
Your local children’s services agency is responsible for protecting and providing for the children within their county. That is already a huge job! Quite simply, they just don’t have the time to send homestudies and work to help you adopt a child that might be from a different county. Working with a private agency such as Open Arms increases the likelihood of you being matched because we have the ability to search all counties in Ohio as well as other states.
Yes! Almost all of the children Open Arms places are legally free for adoption, meaning the court has already made a decision that they cannot go back to any family member and need to be adopted. When that is not the case, you will know and have the opportunity to choose whether or not to be considered.
There is no easy answer to this question, although it’s probably the one we hear the most. In an infant adoption, the birth mother selects the family to adopt their baby and it’s impossible for us to predict what family a mom will choose. In adopting from foster care, our average time for a match is 11 months.
We are a full-service adoption agency. That means that we provide all of the services a family will need including training, homestudy, matching and support after your child(ren) come home. We also offer regular support groups, ongoing training and book clubs to help assist you on your journey.
No. Open Arms Adoptions welcomes all who have a genuine desire to provide a permanent family for children in need.
Birth parents cannot sign a permanent surrender until at least 72 hours after the baby’s birth. They can take longer to decide, but cannot sign earlier. Once that permanent surrender is signed, a birth parent can not change their mind.
