There are quite a few topics under the letter “P” for my Transracial Adoption ABCs. I have already tackled “packing”, and now today I am going to write about “paperwork”.

Paperwork – There is a lot of paperwork involved in adoption. Domestic adoptions typically have less paperwork than international adoptions. Some countries require a lot more paperwork for international adoptions than others. But all adoptions involve paperwork.

First I am going to take a look at the paperwork involved in a domestic infant adoption.

The usual first step in your adoption is the homestudy. You can read in detail about what a homestudy is here, but basically it is a book report on your life and family, that approves you to adopt a child or children.

Some of the paperwork typically involved with a homestudy is:

- application to homestudy agency
- writing your autobiography
- medical form and/or doctor letter
- police clearance
- child abuse registry clearance
- employment letter
- reference letters
- birth certificates
- marriage and/or divorce certificates (if applicable)
- fingerprints (in some states)

If you choose to use a different agency to handle your actual adoption than the one that did your homestudy, you will have to fill out another agency application. Often there is some paperwork asking questions about what race of child you are open to, what special needs you are open to, whether you are open to the idea of an open adoption, if you are willing to take a legal risk placement, etc.


Before you can be officially waiting for a domestic infant placement, agencies typically require some sort of a family profile, which they will show to pregnant women who want to choose an adoptive family for their baby.

A profile is typically several pages long and contain multiple photos depicting the adoptive family’s life. Basic information on the parents and any other children in the home is given. Examples of information shared in a profile includes marriage, education, occupation, other children, pets, why the couple wants to adopt, how the couple feels about open adoption and other information to help the prospective birth mother get to know the families that want to adopt.

Sometimes a "dear birth mother" letter is also included in the profile. These letters are used to share the adoptive parents' feelings about adoption, family, life, etc. with the prospective birth mothers.

There is usually some sort of adoption agreement to be signed once a match has been made for the adoptive parents, and then again once the child is born and the placement is made.

If the child is born out of the state that the adoptive parents live in, then the parents must wait for the ICPC to be completed before they can bring the child home. ICPC stands for Interstate Compact for Placement of Children, and it is paperwork that is done between the “sending state” (the state the child was born in) and the “receiving state” (the state that the adoptive parents live in. The adoptive parents do not have to handle any of this paperwork, but they do have to wait for it to be completed to take their child home.

The next step in the paperwork is to have the adoption finalized. When this can occur depends on the individual laws and regulations of the state you live in, but many states have a six-month waiting period. Some agencies and states require that one or more post placement visits occur during this time. The post placement visits and reports are typically handled by the agency that did your homestudy. Once the waiting period is up (if there is one) and any necessary post placement visits are completed, the adoption can be finalized.

Once the adoptive parents have a finalized adoption decree, they can apply for a new birth certificate for their child, which will have the adoptive parents listed as the child’s parents. In domestic adoptions, the new birth certificate will come from the state the child was born in, not the state the adoptive parents live in. To find out what is required to obtain a new birth certificate you can search for the vital records office of the appropriate state on Yahoo, Google or any other search engine.

After you have received a new birth certificate for your child, your next step is obtaining a social security card, or an updated social security card. If a social security number was applied for for the child automatically at the hospital and there was any change to the child’s name during the finalization, then an updated card is needed. If a social security number was never applied for, then a new card must be applied for. You can find more detailed information on social security numbers here.

With your adoption finalized and your new birth certificate and social security number in hand, your adoption process is done. However, if you have an open or semi-open adoption, then your paperwork is not over. Depending on the details of your adoption, you will most likely at least be needing to send regular updates and photos of your child to the agency (if you are not in direct contact with the child’s birth mother). It is very important that all adoptive parents honor the agreements they make regarding ongoing contact and updates.

That, in a nutshell, is the paperwork involved in a domestic infant adoption. For domestic foster placements, the homestudy process is the same. Sometimes you are required to become licensed foster parents as well, and then you would have the usual placement agreements to sign and the updated birth certificates and social security numbers to obtain. For more info specifically on adoption from the foster system, you can visit the Foster Adoption blog and the Foster Care blog.

If you have anything to add, please leave a comment.