The Adoption Home Study

And

The Adoption Truth

           A home study involves finding out what adoption situation you are best suited for, and what is the best way forward for you. Our team at Adoption Associates of Iowa is one of many fine agencies and professionals performing home studies for adoption in Iowa.   The State of Iowa sets out clear guidelines for all of us to follow, and we all train well to create the best home studies in the nation.   Like all adoption practitioners in Iowa, our agency aims for the best interests of the children and the families who will raise them. Iowa is proud of its families, and we are proud of our home studies about those families.

The home study is the easiest part of the adoption process.

  1. We will meet with you at least twice, getting acquainted, learning your history, and helping you to understand the adoption process.
  2. We will ask you to gather some documents required by law. To name a few, we need such items as birth certificates, health reports, employment history, letters of recommendation, and others.
  3. We will search state and national criminal and child abuse registry records as required by law.
  4. We will expect you to undertake some education about adoption.
  5. We will work with you to evaluate your best route forward for adoption.
  6. We will issue a “Pre-Adoptive Placement Report” sometimes called a “Homestudy Report.”
  7. We will help you design a search strategy for finding a good adoptive match for you.

Your Adoption Associates of Iowa Home Study Report belongs to you to use for any good adoptive opportunity that we or you may find, regardless of any other adoption route you may be pursuing at the same time.   This opens more paths forward and increases your chance of finding the right match.   If we, or you, or people you know, hear of any adoption opportunities, your home study is ready to use, and you are legally qualified.

Then you will be on your way towards adoption. Yet, the truth also is that adoption can be difficult. And we want you to know that up front.   Three of our favorite quotes are these: “Adoption Is Normal;” “Adoption Is Not For The Faint Of heart;” “Adoption is successful for those who persevere. “

Adoption is Normal in that normal people often build their families either entirely or partly through adoption – and always have. All throughout human history, when parents have died or have become unable to continue providing care for their children, other parent figures have stepped in to raise the child.   Think, for example of how many times that must have happened on the westward-moving American Frontier. It was normal. Over 2 million out of 83 million children in the US are adopted children.   Adoption is normal.

A great many people have yearned to be parents and have found the way to achieve their dreams through adoption.   You don’t have to be wealthy. You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to have perfect records or special talents. Parenting is normal. Parenting is done by everyday people, who may make mistakes, but who still live to see the victory when their child becomes a fine adult person. And despite sometimes scary headlines, nearly all of the children being parented today are doing well.

You can do this. You can do adoption. You can be a parent.

But remember, Adoption Is Not For The Faint of Heart in that it almost always takes time, patience, and the willingness to experience the risks and setbacks along the way to success. The home study itself is not difficult. Still, there is naturally some tension as you wait for someone to come to your home; as you fill out your documents and gather information; as records are searched; as you wait for a report to be prepared.     These feelings are perfectly normal. It’s not possible for anyone to do all that without feeling some stress.   But we will be with you all the way.

Then there is some stress as you wait for a match, and again as you wait for the baby to be born or for a child to become available.   When prospective adoption situations arise, they are then followed up on by our team, and by you, and by the others who will be working with you. Some situations might suddenly “fall through” as the birth parent changes their mind, or as you may find that the situation is not a good match for you.   But we will be with you all the way!   There may be some difficult times. But those who persevere will succeed.

Adoption is successful for those who persevere.   And we will be there to help you succeed. Adoption is like other life pursuits – you succeed if you stay with it.

Of course, adoption’s only the beginning, because it is just the opening for all the tests and joys of parenting itself. Parenting is not for the faint of heart, either. But the family photos we get every Christmas from our adoptive families display the rewards.

And that’s why we do this.