Adoption can be confusing. We want to make sure all of your questions are answered. Here are a few frequently asked questions, but if you don’t see yours here, please don’t hesitate to ask.
It is never too late to make an adoption plan for your baby. It is always a tough emotional choice but can be less stressful if done before you leave the hospital. That is a primary reason we want to work with you during your pregnancy so that you know what you want to do when you get to the hospital.
However, some moms don’t come to that conclusion until they are at the hospital and the baby is born. Usually, we can still accommodate a mom’s wishes and make everything happen before she and the baby are discharged. We help her select the family, and she can usually meet them before she leaves the hospital.
Sometimes a mom takes her baby home, only to discover later that she can’t make it work, or she may decide that she wants a better life for her child than she can currently provide. She makes that sacrificial choice by putting the best interest of her child above her own. She knows that she is making a loving choice to give her child both a mom and a dad in a good Christian home and that she will be able to see and know (through pictures and updates, etc.) that her child is growing and happy.
CFS sets the standard qualifications higher than the state requires to assure expectant parents that the chosen family is indeed the best.
All families must go through extensive background checks and screens. They must be cleared by local (city & county), state (FDLE), and federal (FBI) background checks as well as the Child Abuse Registry and Domestic Violence screens.
In addition, we review references from critical individuals from every aspect of their lives. A caseworker spends significant time in their home interviewing them and probing every aspect of their lives. This includes their families when they were growing up and their relationship with their parents and siblings. We get into how they met and why they are pursuing adoption.
We want to know everything about them so that when we present a profile to you, we can answer your questions and reassure you that they are who they say they are.
In Florida, whether the mother was married at the time of conception and/or delivery of the baby matters. Different rules apply to an unmarried biological father and to one who is married to the mother.
For more information on this subject, we would like to sit down with you and first learn the details of your particular situation. This will help us to give you a more accurate picture of your case. Please call: 1-800-226-2367.
Florida law requires that a known birth father who can be located must be served with a Notice of Intended Adoption Plan. This is not your responsibility. We will attempt to contact the father, sit with him, and explain what is happening.
If he refuses to meet with us, we will have him served with the legal document. The legal document tells him what he must do to protect his parental rights and how much time he has to do it. You do not have to have any contact with him if you choose not to.
