November is National Adoption Month, so here’s my revised list of resources for LGBTQ people considering adoption.
As with all parenting decisions, the very first place to start is in your heart. Do you want to be parents? Is adoption the path, or one of the paths, you are open to? After that, some online resources may be of help.
LGBTQ Specific
- “Adoption Options Overview” from HRC is a good summary of the types of adoption and some of the challenges of each one. Their “8 Questions to Ask Before Starting the Adoption Process” is also useful.
- AdoptUSKids has a listing of Adoption Laws and Resources for LGBT Families and also provides free assistance to LGBT families seeking to foster or adopt children from foster care. To talk with an LGBT adoption specialist, call them toll-free at 888-200-4005 or e-mail LGBTSupport@adoptuskids.org.
- “LGBT Families” from the Child Welfare Information Gateway, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (developed in partnership with the HRC Family Project).
- Find a list of LGBT-friendly adoption agencies: ones that have achieved all of HRC’s All Children — All Families Benchmarks of LGBT Cultural Competency.
- Foster and Adoption Laws Map (U.S.) A useful overview from the Movement Advancement Project.
Not LGBTQ Specific
- The Child Welfare Information Gateway also has lots of other general information on adoption, in addition to the LGBT-specific link above. They also have a site dedicated to National Adoption Month, with a subset of key resources.
- The National Adoption Center expands adoption opportunities for children living in foster care throughout the United States and is a resource to families and agencies that seek the permanency of caring homes for children.
- RaiseAChild.US helps promote family building through fostering and adoption and supports people interested in becoming foster/adoptive parents. Each of the agencies in its Nationwide Referral Network has completed training and certification in LGBT cultural competence.
- Transracial/Transcultural Adoption: Information and stories from the New York State Citizens’ Coalition for Children.
- National Center on Adoption and Permanency is a brand-new one-stop portal for links to adoption-related resources.
Those are only a few of the many resources available. I’ve focused here on starter resources for prospective adoptive parents, and haven’t included organizations that mostly work in adoption advocacy, policy, or the like. I also haven’t included the many links for birth parents, adopted individuals, and social service professionals, though I welcome your suggestions for them in the comments.