Private adoption isn’t only for newborns. The average age of adoption is six years old, and twenty-nine percent of adoptees are over the age of nine. Adopting an older child can be a wonderful thing, giving a child a sense of permanency and solidifying family relationships. And it can help you grow your family.
Our Pensacola adoption lawyers at Gulf Coast Adoptions want you to know that private adoption may be right for a child of any age. Let’s discuss adopting older children.
Expanding the Scope of Private Adoption
When people think of private adoption, they often think of infants. However, older child adoption is common. For the children adopted, it can improve outcomes in social relationships, employment, education, and avoidance of the criminal justice system.
For families considering adopting an older child, there are important things to know as well as benefits. While a child of any age can be adopted, parental rights must be relinquished or terminated for a child to be available for adoption. The result is the establishment of new parental rights and responsibilities within the adopted family.
Why Families Choose To Adopt Older Children
There are a variety of reasons that families may choose to adopt older children. A family may already be providing significant care for the child. A family member may have assumed a parental role because of personal circumstances. A parent may be unable to continue parenting, or they may believe they can provide a better life for their child through adoption.
Placing an older child for adoption isn’t giving up the child. It’s making a loving and difficult choice. In turn, the adoptive family can provide the child with stability, material provision, and a loving home where they can thrive. A family may not want to care for an infant and enjoy that older children can engage in more activities. An older child may be a better fit for working parents because of arranging for childcare or a better fit with the ages of other people in the family.
These are just some of the reasons that families choose to adopt older children.
Legal Requirements for Private Adoption of Older Children
Private adoption of an older child requires:
- Matching the child with the adoptive family
- Termination of parental rights, either by consent or by legal process
- Placement of the child
- Court decree of adoption
Adoptive parents can be disqualified because of a criminal record, a history of domestic abuse, child abuse, previous neglect or abandonment, substance abuse, or previous violence. There is no maximum age, but an adoptive parent must be physically fit to care for a child and must also have adequate financial resources. See Requirements to Adopt a Child.
Challenges and Rewards of Adopting an Older Child
Adopting an older child can be both challenging and rewarding. While any child being placed for adoption may have trauma, an older child may have special emotional, social, and educational needs. The adoption may change the child’s routine, including the school they attend and their daily activities.
Tax credits and subsidies may be available to offset some of the expenses. Support groups, school resources, and community organizations may help with the emotional aspect of adoption as well as planning for the child’s educational and other needs.
Preparing Your Home and Family for an Older Child
An older child will have an established medical, social, and family history, which will be documented in preparation for the adoption. Some of these requirements are waived when the adoption is between family members. Otherwise, be prepared to document how the adoption will be beneficial for the child’s development. Preparing to address an older child’s special needs is not only important to having the adoption approved, but it is also important for the child to thrive post-adoption.
Embracing the Full Spectrum of Private Adoption
Private adoption is a wide spectrum of creating new family relationships. There isn’t one right answer when it comes to how an adoption should proceed. An older child adoption may be right for you as an adoptive family or in placing your child for adoption. There are important things to know to prepare for the process and the loving choice to provide a home for an older child.
Contact an Experienced Adoption Lawyer Today
Are you considering adoption? At Gulf Coast Adoptions, we understand adoption because we are adoptive parents ourselves. Call or message us now to talk to our caring and professional team.