In 2021, Pensacola News Journal reported that adoptions have become increasingly difficult to facilitate. This is especially the case for families looking to adopt a newborn baby. 

The newborn adoption process undoubtedly requires patience, resilience, and education. Families should also aim to partner with facilitators like Heart of Adoptions, Inc. to get expertise and support.

Today, we’re going to share how to adopt a newborn baby for Florida families. We’ll cover topics like legal requirements, associated costs, and more. Read on to get started.

Understand the Different Types of Adoption

There are a few different ways to approach adoption. If you’re willing to adopt older children, you’re more likely to work with state foster care organizations.

To adopt an infant, you’ll work with either:

• A domestic newborn adoption agency
• An international newborn adoption agency
• The birth mother directly

While international adoption is more complicated than domestic adoption, domestic adoption is not a simple process. An adoption agency can help both you and the birth mother to navigate the legal, financial, and emotional process of newborn adoption. 

Partner With Florida Adoption Professionals

If you partner with an adoption agency, you’ll be assigned a case manager whose job it is to:

• Prepare you for all aspects of adoption, including financial considerations
• Help you build a strong adoption profile
• Find the right match
• Facilitate communication between you and the birth mother
• Ensure a smooth finalization process

If you decide to work with an adoption agency, it’s time to narrow down your options. Look for an agency in your state with years of experience and a strong placement track record. 

Complete the Adoption Home Study

There are several steps you’ll need to complete before meeting Florida’s requirements for prospective adoptive parents. First, you’ll need to complete what’s called a home study with a state social worker. A home study is a series of meetings and evaluations the state uses to determine if your family is fit to parent a child.

Florida home studies involve:

• Criminal background checks
• Financial verifications
• Health examinations
• Home visits
• Interviews with character references

This process can take up to several months, especially if your assigned social worker has a large caseload. 

Fulfill Training and Education Requirements

In the state of Florida, you will also need to participate in a mandatory preparation course like Model Approach to Partnership in Parenting (MAPP). These courses cover topics like:

• Partnership building between adoptive and biological families
• Understanding the impact of separation 
• Child development and adoption-specific considerations (e.g., attachment issues)
• Parenting strategies and behavior management techniques

You can complete these courses over the course of several weeks through a certified provider. 

Create Your Profile and Prepare to Wait

With all pre-adoption requirements met, it’s time to build your adoption profile. This is the profile that birth mothers will see when choosing a family to raise their biological child.

Make sure your profile is an authentic representation of you and your family. Include descriptions of each of your immediate family members, your home, and your reasons for adopting. 

Once your profile is complete, you’ll have to wait for your case manager to make a match with an expecting birth mother. This can take several months and you may face a lot of emotional ups and downs in the process. Consider using the adoptive parent resources provided by the Florida Department of Children and Families during this time. 

Start Preparing for Newborn Placement

Some families prefer to start preparing for their newborn right away while others prefer to wait until they’ve made a match. Either way, preparing for newborn placement can help you emotionally prepare for the role of parenthood.

Preparing for newborn placement isn’t just about buying the right furniture and supplies. It’s also a good time to build a relationship with the birth mother. However, we advise families to follow the birth mother’s lead and respect her boundaries throughout the process.

Finalize Your Florida Newborn Adoption

Newborn placement in Florida may occur as early as the baby’s birthdate. However, you will still need to complete steps to finalize the adoption, including:

• Official consent from the birth mother
• Post-placement visits conducted by a social worker
• Finalization hearing in your local circuit court

In Florida, birth mothers can give official consent two days after the baby is born or when they’re discharged from the hospital, whichever comes first. You’ll likely complete the finalization hearing six months after placement.

How to Adopt a Newborn Baby: FAQs

Before we wrap up our guide on how to adopt a newborn baby, let’s cover a few questions interested families often ask. Keep in mind that every adoption is unique, and there are no one-size-fits-all answers to related questions. 

How Long Does Newborn Adoption Take?

We consider the newborn adoption timeline to have started when families partner with adoption professionals and begin taking serious steps toward adopting. The length of the timeline will reflect how long it takes to find a match and how far along the birth mother is when that occurs. Lucky families may have their newborn in less than a year, but it often takes longer.

What Is the Cost of Adopting a Newborn?

The cost of adopting a newborn can also impact your timeline if you aren’t financially prepared from the start. You’ll need to cover costs like:

• Adoption agency fees
• Legal fees
• Travel expenses to meet with the birth mother
• Home study and counseling costs

The total costs will vary, but families should expect to pay tens of thousands to complete the adoption process. 

Can You Speed Up the Adoption Timeline?

The best thing you can do is partner with a knowledgeable adoption agency. This can eliminate delays related to legal issues and other missteps. However, there is no surefire way to speed up your adoption timeline, because it all comes down to finalizing a match. 

Ready to Adopt? Contact Heart of Adoptions

We hope this guide has given you a sense of how to adopt a newborn baby in Florida. However, no guide can take the place of the support you’ll receive from a case manager.

Heart of Adoptions, Inc. has assisted with the placement of over 2,000 newborns in Florida since 2001. We work hard to meet the individual needs of both our adoptive families and our birth mothers. Learn more about our newborn adoption program today.