3 of the Biggest Differences between Adoption and Foster Care
You can’t keep your child. Whether this is because your house is already at max capacity, you aren’t ready to be a parent, or you never saw yourself with children — any and all reasons are valid. Realizing that you’re unable or don’t want to raise your child is very hard to admit. However, it isn’t the end of the world. There are options available that can benefit both you and your child.
Two of these include adoption and foster care. Now, you have heard of these terms before. Both industries have been around for a very long time, and have been confused as the same thing from time to time. Yet, Adoption Choices of Colorado is here to help give you more accurate information, and how both of these options could potentially impact you and your child’s futures. Adoption and foster care, while both seek to provide children with loving homes, are very different in how they operate.
That said, here are the three biggest differences between adoption and foster care.
1. You have Full Control Over the Adoption Process
When you decide to place your baby for adoption with our adoption agency, you have full control over the adoption process. You are assigned with an adoption caseworker who will help you every step of the way, and you are able to voice any preferences or expectations you have for your adoption journey. This includes, but is not limited to determining what type of adoption you want to have and who gets to raise your child. As the soon-to-be birth mother, you also get to outline what you’d like your hospital experience to look like and create a birth plan to help your adoption caseworker and the hospital staff ensure that all your needs are met. Nothing happens without your final say.
With foster care, on the other hand, things happen a bit differently. Because foster care is a state-run program, the majority of the decisions are dictated by the state government. You are able to make decisions based on your child’s well-being to a certain extent, but the state has the ultimate power in what happens. This includes terminating your parental rights and putting your child up for adoption if the state deems this in the best interest of your child.
2. You get to Select Your Child’s Adoptive Parents
Wanting their child to grow up safe, happy and healthy is a goal for many expectant mothers in Colorado considering adoption. It’s also something that causes them a lot of stress and anxiety when they’re placing their baby for adoption. However, through the beauty of adoption, this is something else you have full control over. If you envision something specific for your child, your adoption caseworker can put this into your adoption plan and show you adoptive parent profiles that best match with what you’re looking for. You can take the time you need reviewing the profiles and selecting who you feel would be the right fit for your child. Depending on what type of adoption you chose, you may even get the opportunity to meet the adoptive parents and get to know them before your child is born.
In the foster care system, you do not get a say in where your child is placed or how long they live there. There is no approval process beforehand. The state makes this decision.
3. Adoption is Permanent
This is perhaps one of the biggest differences between adoption and foster care. The permanency of each. When you have your baby’s best interests at heart, you want to not only know that they will be loved and cared for, but that they will also be raised in a long-term environment. Stability is extremely important, after all, in more ways than one.
Adoption offers your child the most permanent option. After you choose your child’s adoptive parents and the adoption is finalized in court, he or she stays with their new family forever. There is no relocation or frequent moves, as there would be in the foster care system. Adoption provides a permanent and lifelong environment for your child. The foster care system offers one that is temporary.
Biggest Differences between Adoption and Foster Care
Determining what is best for your child is not an easy decision. There are a lot of factors to think about and options to weigh. It’s not a choice that can or should be taken lightly. It’s also not one that anyone can make for you. Only you know what you want for both you and your child. Only you know what would best calm your heart and reassure you that everything will be okay.
We understand that you want to give your child the life they deserve. To show him or her how much you love and care for them by placing them with a family who will give them their best shot at life. So, if you want peace of mind that your child will gain a forever family and grow up to be the happy, healthy and independent adult he or she is meant to be — adoption provides that!
If you want to learn more, or have any questions about how the adoption process could impact both of your lives, don’t hesitate to reach out to our adoption professionals at Adoption Choices of Colorado. We are here to help you in any way that we can, and to ensure that you feel confident about the decision you make!
If you are facing an unplanned pregnancy and want to learn more about your adoption options, contact Adoption Choices of Colorado by email, phone, or text: Email Us, Text us: 720-371-1099, Call us: 303-670-4673 (HOPE). If you are hoping to adopt, please contact us here.
Stephanie joined the Adoption Choices family in 2014 as the Child Placement Supervisor. Her love for adoption began in first grade when she made friends with twins adopted from Vietnam. Her heart grew strong over the years for adopted children and ultimately led her to graduate school where she continued her focus to her dream of working in the adoption field. Stephanie earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Denver in 2001. Over the past 15 years, Stephanie has worked as a pregnancy counselor and as an adoptive parent counselor for foster care, international adoption and domestic adoption, writing hundreds of home studies for families, and helping build their forever families. Stephanie is married and has three boys ages 12, 9, and 5. Together with her family she enjoys riding bike, playing games, watching her three sons compete in their various sporting and musical activities and go on vacations.
Christy Ikeler, is our Executive Director and Birth Parent Director. Christy has been with Adoption Choices Team for 18 years, since opening the doors in 2002! Christy has a true passion for what she does and her true love is working with and helping each birth parent. Whether she is up all night on the phone talking with them, taking them to doctors appointments, out for their favorite treat, providing counseling or at the hospital during labor and delivery, Christy is very involved every step of the way. She has a contagious laugh and a spunky personality that our birth moms all can bond with and relate to. As an adoptive parent herself, adoption holds a very special place in her heart and she can relate on every level with both birth parents and adoptive parents. In her free time Christy loves spending time with her daughter, gardening, baking and taking vacations with her family. Christy is an excellent leader for our team at Adoption Choices and is truly one of a kind!! As Executive Director, Christy spends time with the staff, birth parents and adoptive families in order to ensure that the agency is running smoothly. She has placed a huge emphasis on community outreach and programs for birth parents. Christy loves the opportunity to lead the agency into a brighter future.
Ms. Mackenzie has built a successful counseling career over the past 20 years, supporting mothers and families, people of all ages and genders, students, community professionals and fellow clinicians. Liv values a diverse professional focus, including the entrepreneurial life of a sole proprietor, the evaluative process of certifying foster/adoptive homes, the insightful and mindful one-on-one one work with enthusiastic clients, and serving as an advocate for underserved populations. Liv is a Licensed Professional Counselor and holds a BA in Pre-Law and Economics from American University, an MA in Counseling from Adams University and a certificate in Human Resource Management from Villanova University. Away from work you will find Liv spending time in nature, biking to the farmer’s market and adventuring with her family.
Catherine A. Madsen, joined the Adoption Choices family as legal counsel in 2013. Catherine is responsible for providing legal guidance to the Agency, training and updating staff on developments in adoption law and legislation, and program development. Catherine
Virginia Frank is an adoption attorney accredited since 1991 with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Ms. Frank is a leader in the field of private adoption and has completed over 4,000 adoptions in her career. Ms. Frank has a law degree from Oklahoma City University and a BA in both Political Science and Communications from the University of Oklahoma.
Cassidie has been with Adoption Choices since 2015, she has her bachelors in Interdisciplinary Affairs with concentrations in both Sociology and Business Management. Cassidie has additional training in Victim Advocacy, foster care and has been working in women’s services for over 10 years. Cassidie has always had a heart for adoption and it was her career dream to work in adoption. She started off doing volunteer work for advocacy programs, adoption organizations and worked in High Risk Maternal Fetal Medicine through the University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Cassidie is also blessed to have personally experienced an adoption of her own in 2012, completing her family of five! Cassidie loves what she does as a case worker from initial phone calls, meetings, doctor appointments, interaction with the adoptive families to delivery and counseling. Cassidie has a passion for those in need and strives to help make a difference in the lives of the people she meets. She is a firm believer in being kind, compassionate and open minded in all situations. “Unless you’ve walked in their shoes, there’s no place for judgment. A kind word or compliment can go a long way!” The bittersweet moments in adoption reminds Cassidie each and every time, why she loves what she does!