We are placing newborns and young infants, primarily from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC. Children will be African-American, Hispanic, Caucasian or mixed race. Medical and background information will be provided, to the extent possible, on children and the birthparents.
Eligibility Criteria For Adoptive Families
Our eligibility criteria for adopting families is flexible in order to include as many families as possible for children that need homes. Most of our families will be between the ages of 30 and 50. Couples should be married for at least two years. Single applicants are also welcome. Applicants should be in good emotional, physical and financial health.
How Does The Program Work?
Families interested in adopting through our domestic program should contact us by phone, email or through our website to receive more information about our domestic program. Once you’ve decided to work in our domestic adoption program, these are the steps that will lead you to your new son or daughter:
- You will submit a completed application with a recent photo and a $500 application fee.
- You will meet with a CHAC social worker for an orientation meeting in our Maryland office or by telephone for out of town families.
- You will receive provisional acceptance into the program conditioned upon CHAC approval of your completed homestudy.
- You will sign and return our Adoption Services Agreement.
- You will begin the homestudy process, if not already done.
- You will prepare your Family Profile for inclusion in our Waiting Parent Notebook.
- Upon approval of your homestudy, we will notify you of your final acceptance into our program.
- Your Family Profile will be posted in our Waiting Parent Notebook.
- You are matched with a birthmother.
- The baby is born! Placement is made!
- After a state-specific waiting period, the birthmother’s revocation period expires.
- Post-placement supervision begins.
- Family begins finalization process through the local court.
Who Will Assist Us Through The Adoption Process?
A Cradle of Hope social worker will work with you through each step of the adoption process. Our experienced team knows that this is an exciting yet difficult time for you and will be available to support and guide you until your child comes home and after.
What Adoption Fees Will Be Charged?
Cradle of Hope’s fees in our Domestic Program are based on a sliding scale. Please contact us for more information about the cost of adopting through our domestic adoption program and the schedule of payments.
Family Testimonials and References
Read below to hear what some of our families had to say about their Cradle of Hope adoption experience
Matthew & Rachel
We are so grateful to have worked with Cradle of Hope while adopting our daughter. They took care of so many details and had excellent communication with us. The support they provided at the hospital was amazing. We were very thankful for the compassion they had for our daughter’s birth mom both before and after the birth. Cradle of Hope provided so much guidance to us through the process and was able to provide valuable resources to our daughter’s birth mom.
Wendy
I couldn’t speak more highly of Cradle of Hope! I contracted with them to help facilitate the adoption between the birth mom and myself. They were very compassionate to both the birth mom and myself. They went out of their way for us and always answered our questions, day or night. Their guidance through this process was invaluable.
Kevin & Julie
We particularly appreciate how candid and down-to-earth Linda was throughout the adoption process. She was in regular communication with us at all stages of the journey. She was sensitive to, and respectful of, all parties in the adoption triad. We felt well-supported during both challenging and joyful times. Cradle of Hope guided us to the best possible outcome – the adoption of our daughter!
Eric & Teresa
We had a wonderful experience with Cradle of Hope. The staff were friendly and welcoming right from the start, with fast response times to all of our questions. Our assigned social worker provided us with many resources and we felt like she stood by us through the process. She helped us sort out some tough questions and guided us to be truly self-reflective. We will always remember her as part of our adoption story and we are excited to work with her as we begin our adoption journey again. (Photo by Kathleen Hertel Photography)
Financing Adoption Expenses
We understand that international adoption is not inexpensive. Our fees are determined based on domestic and overseas expenses, and include certain unavoidable costs such as rent, utilities, telephones, printing, supplies and postage, as well as compensation for our staff. Our fees must cover all operating expenses and provide sufficient reserve to cover months without placements or expenses incurred in connection with children who are ultimately not placed for adoption with our clients. We must also budget for travel expenses to foreign countries to begin new programs or iron out wrinkles in existing ones, as well as for foreign adoption officials to come to the United States to check on the adjustment of their children. Finally, it is important that our fees generate enough income to allow us to assist foreign orphanages with necessities such as food, clothing, medicine, and educational equipment for the many children who wait for families.
