Considering Special Needs Infant Adoption, Page 2

Question: How do you find the children?
Merryl: Birthmothers voluntarily come to our agency to explore the option of making an adoption plan. We do not terminate parents rights. All surrenders are voluntary.

Question: How in-depth are the special needs of these infants??
Merryl: The infants run along a continuum from babies at risk due to drug exposure, to babies with down syndrome, to babies with total care needs their entire lives. In some cases, babies are born with catastrophic brain anomalies that the doctors can make that prediction. In some cases the doctors are incorrect but we need families who are prepared for total care if the doctors are right. These are babies who need g-tubes and other mechanical assistance. But not all of our babies are so challenged. We are always looking for homes that will help lead satisfying lives.

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Question: Merryl, what kind of parent education do you require? for example, a hopeful adoptive parent lives in another state. Would her state's requirements be enough, or would she have to meet NY requirements?
Merryl: MAPP training is not as important to us as some other agencies. We look at the whole picture and the family's experience and talents, and often request families to provide us with more information than what is written in the homestudy.

Question: Are there other fees besides the normal adoption fees thru your agency? Are they based on a sliding scale based on income?
Merryl: There are attorney fees and travel fees to our agency, but the agency has a program that can assist with travel expenses. Yes our fees are based on a sliding scale. Our average fee is 1,000-3,000 dollars. We never let the fee stand in the way of a placement. The family must be chosen by a birthfamily. The Interstate Compact does not cost anything.

Question: How soon is the adoption final typically?
Merryl: Following placement depending on the state, finalization can take 6 months to over a year.

Question: How many placements do you all do per year? (of special needs)
Merryl: We do about 25 -30 a year in the special needs deptartment.

Question: Have you had many disruptions? What is your disruption rate? (for Special Needs)
Merryl: We have placed over 300 babies and we have had one disruption to date.

Question: What about services to the birth parents?
Merryl: We have a birthparent department which offers services to birthparents. They provide options counseling in general and also around adoption, and also do post-placement counseling for birthparnets grieving the loss of their birth child.

Question: Does the birthparent department also offer the bparents the tools to parent the child themselves as well?
Merryl: We assist them in getting entitlements. We provide support in any way that we can, such as helping teens tell their parents about a birth.

Question: I was wondering if the adoption is final at placement or is there a time period before it is final for these special needs adoptions?
Merryl: There are several supervisory visits required before the adoption can be finalized in court.

Question: Is there ever a placement and then the birth parents change their minds?
Merryl: The birthparents have a 30 day period in NY state to go to court to regain custody. This happens very rarely because we do not take a surrender when a woman is ambivalent about making a plan. Remember these are all voluntary plans and the birth parents get a minimum of 3 counseling sessions before they can surrender their child. Remember, this rarely happens at our agency, because we proceed slowly. Also once the adoption is final, there is no way it can be disrupted

Question: Do you have requirements on how many kids the adoptive parents can have?
Merryl: No, we have no requirements but some birthmothers prefer smaller families.

Question: Would we be able to meet with the birth parents? And maintain some sort of openness?
Merryl: Yes, we very much encourage openness at our agency. Most of the time, you would meet the birthparents and have some form of contact after the placement.

Question: Does your agency offer third party assistance in maintaining contact?
Merryl: In some instances, info is passed through the agency. We do encourage direct contact in the form of emails or phone calls or visits.

Many thanks to all who participated!

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