Adopting a child is a lifelong commitment. But at times the process to adopt can also seem to take ages! If you’re well-informed and prepared for an infant adoption, you’ll succeed!

There are various ways that adoption is similar to pregnancy. Just as pregnancy has lots of hopes, expectations, uncertainties, and restrictions, so too does adoption. The more equipped you are for the adoption process, the easier it’ll be to keep hope on your dream of extending your family.

Ask yourselves, “Will we be ready to adopt when we get ‘the call’”? How would you react if you were presented with an unexpected adoption situation? As a hopeful adoptive parent, you need the ability to concentrate on the adoption process and be prepared adopt at any time.

So how do you know you’re ready for infant adoption?

To begin with, understand your reasons for adopting. Don’t choose adoption just because people say you “should.” Infertility can be a distressing experience but adoption may not always be the right solution for couples fighting infertility. Adoption can’t erase the need to have a biological child. If this is the case, couples might need to grieve the biological child they may never conceive.

Likewise, feeling lonely isn’t a good reason to begin the adoption process. It takes a lot of self-sacrifice to provide a nurturing life to a child. If your motive to adopt is simply so you aren’t alone, putting their needs ahead of your own will feel like a burden.

If your spouse isn’t sure about infant adoption, don’t start the process hoping they’ll come around. What happens if they don’t come around after the child becomes part of your family? Your commitment to your child is forever and must be equally shared.

So, your reasons to adopt shouldn’t be idealistic or selfish. Make sure that you want to adopt because you’re ready to become parents.

Once you start the adoption procedures, prepare yourselves to face financial restrictions as well as demands on your energy and time. The process to adopt will require that you make commitments and lifestyle changes in order to be successful. Also prepare yourselves to face some ‘red tape’ during the process, no matter which path to adoption you pick. You must also be prepared to give your child the love, attention, and security that they deserve.

Set aside time to talk with your spouse throughout your adoption journey. Many couples have told us that once they started, they found they opened up more than they’d expected. Every conversation you have about the future is in preparation for the day you get “the call” that a birth mother has chosen you.

When you’re fully prepared and ready to move forward, adoption will become one of the most fulfilling experiences in your life!