Domestic Adoption Guidelines

How does this program work?

Prospective adoptive parents are educated, have police and child abuse clearances, and a home inspection. They are then asked to create a written profile with photos about themselves. A video profile is also required. These profiles are used by pregnant women when selecting a family for their baby.

Open Adoption usually involves a pre-placement meetings between pregnant women and prospective adoptive parents. There is also some degree of openness expected after placement. Infants are placed directly from the hospital. We do not use foster care except in rare situations.

We occasionally have women who contact us about placing older children. These children are usually between 1-5 years of age. This is very rare. Most of our placements are infants directly from the hospital. If you are also open to an older child let your social worker know. If you are only interested in an older child contact us and we will see what we can do to help.

Levels of Openness

Not all pregnant women want an open adoption. However, each family in our program needs to be open to a minimum level of contact. This would include, exchange of first names. Exchange of letters and pictures through AFTH. One yearly visit (can be at our picnic).

Not all states have legally binding contact agreements. Agreeing to a level of openness is based on the honor system. We expect you to hold to your agreed upon terms. You are making a commitment to a woman who is placing her trust and her baby in your care.

Pregnant women who reside in states with legally binding contact agreements may choose to use one or not. Pregnant women may also choose to only select families in a state with legally binding agreements.

Adoption Guidelines with fees are based on your state of residence.
Please note: To be eligible for our domestic program Adoptions From The Heart is ONLY accepting prospective adoptive parents who are minimally open to a child of African-American heritage. We encourage families to be open to a child of any race or ethnicity.
All families must take one of our information meeting webinars before they apply – dates and times can be found on our calendar of events.
For Families who are considering trans-racial adoption but aren’t quite sure, Adoptions From The Heart offers a full day trans-racial adoption education course for $300 to help families make a decision on what may be right for you. If you are interested in attending this please contact your local office

Residents in states we are licensed ( NJ, PA, DE, NY, CT and VA) – Download adoption guidelines with fees and costs.

Residents of Washington DC, Maryland – Download adoption guidelines with fees and costs.

Residents in other states wishing to adopt African-American children – Download adoption guidelines with fees and costs.