Are you considering adoption, but are unsure of the various costs you may incur in order to adopt? The costs you might see in a domestic infant adoption will vary considerably depending on the type of adoption (private/independent, attorney, or agency adoption) and the state from which you are adopting. The adoption professionals recommended by Purl typically have adoption opportunities with total costs (including home study related costs) ranging between $8,000 and $50,000, with the majority falling between $25,000 and $37,000. In this article, we break down the types of costs prospective adoptive parents may incur during their adoption journey.

Are you someone who is considering adoption, but is scared off by the contradictory things you’ve heard about the domestic infant adoption process? Here’s a list of five myths we commonly hear about adoption - debunked.

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month. I have suffered from endometriosis since High School and I assume my condition related at least in part to some of my fertility issues. Endometriosis is a painful chronic condition affecting more than 5 million women in the U.S. alone.

On this St. Patrick’s Day, my beautiful little girl through adoption (who is likely at least some part Irish with her beautiful auburn hair) will dress up in green, put her Shamrock stickers all over our house, and her face is likely to be covered at some point in Mint Chip Ice Cream. However, we will not talk about her having the “Luck of the Irish” because she ended up in our family.

So, you are about to launch your adoption journey. How exciting! One of the first steps is tackling the home study. The aim is to tackle, not be tackled. The game plan - ask smart questions!

The vision (AKA nightmare): stranger enters into your home with a white glove, evaluative checklist, trick questions about your parenting techniques and a red pen. This is not the way a home study should be conducted.

Adoption outreach refers to all of the actions that prospective adoptive families can take to find and be found by expectant parents considering an adoption plan for their child. Adoption outreach can range from simply telling friends and family to help spread the word that you’re looking to adopt, to leveraging various social media platforms, to paid advertising (where it is legal to utilize it).  Here are ten ideas for DIY adoption outreach that help get the word out about your desire to adopt (and some will even help fund your adoption as well):

When you are an adoptive parent, you are bound to get questions from friends, family and strangers alike about the details of your child’s adoption story, particularly if you have adopted transracially. As a mom of two girls only eight months apart in age (and currently the exact same height), I can’t seem to get out of a public place without questioning stares and at least one person asking me how I managed to get two such adorable, but completely different  looking children. I have never had a trip to Costco with the girls without someone asking me where Cora’s adorable auburn curls and gorgeous brown eyes came from.

Are you a parent who educates your child about diversity, in many different forms? Maybe you talk to your children and prepare them for meeting individuals of different races, cultures, sexual orientations, or even people with various disabilities, so that your child doesn’t say something hurtful or insensitive unknowingly? One thing that is often left out of that dialogue by parents is educating children about families that are formed through adoption. Most kids, and even many teachers, don’t know or forget that it is common for families to be made this way in the U.S., even when the adoption may not be visible to the naked eye.

The family profile is one of the most important pieces of your adoption journey. It is, after all, the primary way a prospective adoptive family is chosen by expectant parents considering an adoption plan for their child. From experience, we know it is key to be yourself and to represent your family authentically. But that is often easier said than done! If you are struggling to get your profile started, or if you have presented to many adoption situations without getting picked, here are 10 practical tips to make your family profile more authentic and dynamic: 

Sarah Crawford, PhD, LPC, is a child therapist and a parent coach in Arizona who specializes in working with parents to address issues related to attachment, parent-child relationships, and adoption. She helps parents identify what their unique situation needs, while helping parents deepen trust and strengthen family connections. We sat down with Sarah to better understand attachment and how attachment concerns can arise in adoption. Here's what Sarah had to say…

October had always been one of my favorite months of the year. Living in Arizona, it is usually the first sign of cooler weather, football is in full swing and my three favorite holidays are on the horizon. When my husband and I were home study approved and certified to adopt in early August, we were quickly matched with an expectant mother due with a baby boy in mid-October. I was so excited about that being the month we would become parents. I purchased the cutest little bear Halloween costume for him and was thrilled to begin to get to know the expectant mother that would become our son’s birth mother. I couldn’t have predicted that on October 7 a sweet baby boy would be born, but by October 10, after cuddling him for days in the hospital, I would be one of so many in the adoption world to experience what is commonly called a “failed adoption.”

Interested in adoption but overwhelmed by all the jargon and legal terms? As an adoptive mom who once was in your shoes, I know how intimidating it can be at the beginning of the process. Here are some common terms used in domestic infant adoption and what they typically mean within the adoption community.

I missed the boat on motherhood.

What does that mean? It means missed opportunity, lost moments never to be reclaimed, chances I will never have.

If you have adopted a child or are considering it, you may already know about the Adoption Tax Credit. The credit, which has been part of federal tax law since 1997, allows adoptive families to defray some of the costs incurred when they grow their families through adoption. It has helped bring together hundreds of thousands of families, many of whom would not have been able to grow their families through adoption without it. 

Adoption outreach refers to all of the different steps a prospective adoptive family can take to find and be found by expectant parents considering an adoption plan for their child. It can range from just telling friends and family to spread the word, to leveraging various social media platforms, to paid advertising.

Two sweet Purl families are currently matched with expectant mothers due in the next days and months. It is such an exciting time, but they now must endure the difficult wait that comes with adoption. It brings back lots of memories for me personally of our journey to become parents.  I still remember telling one of my friends that my husband and I were going to stop the infertility treatments for awhile and begin the adoption process, and her response: "Well, at least you aren't going to have to go through labor to have your baby". At the time, I didn't think much of the comment, and probably even nodded in agreement. Little did I know, my version of "labor" was going to last over 72 hours, and the first time I experienced that labor, I would be leaving a hospital without a baby.

Adopting a baby is wonderful, awesome, fulfilling experience, but it can also be very HARD! The process itself can be intimidating, and most don’t know where to begin once they make the decision to grow their family through Because of this, we believe that the most efficient, safest and least lonely way to adopt is by utilizing an adoption advisor for your adoption. We hold your hand throughout the adoption process. 

We are so thrilled to feature another Purl family, Jay & Jenny! This sweet couple cannot wait to add to their family through adoption! Jay & Jenny were friends in college that reconnected years later through friends at a baseball game and fell in love! Jay & Jenny's favorite things to do together are swim, hike, watch movies, cook, ride bikes and play games.