Offering a Child Love and Stability

Adopting an infant can raise many emotions including excitement, confusion, wonder and sometimes fear of such a significant commitment.

Our goal is to:

• Prepare you for adoption and support you as an adoptive parent
• Provide both birth and adoptive parents assistance and support throughout the adoption process.

We support openness in adoption to the degree that is mutually agreeable to the adoptive and birth families. Birth parents and adoptive parents may share information about each other and may agree to establish some level of personal relationship.

LSSI’s adoption specialists can help you to explore your desire to adopt. Part of this process includes:

• A home study and licensing study

FAQ’S

• What is LSSI’s domestic infant adoption program?

• Can I choose the adoptive parents for my baby?

• How long does it take to adopt?

• How much information will I have about the birthparents?

• Can the birthparent change his or her mind?

• What are your fees?

• How do I get started?

What is LSSI’s domestic infant adoption program?

Prospective adoptive parents are provided information on available infants through the collaborative efforts of LSSI’s adoption and pregnancy counseling departments. In addition to adoption services, LSSI offers birth parent counseling in several offices around the state. The birth parent is counseled on making the best decision for the child. If pursuing adoption is the birth parent’s decision, the LSSI counselor then provides prospective adoptive parents with profiles of children that are available for adoption. Upon selecting a child, the birth parents are given the option to meet with the adoptive parents, to determine if adoption continues to be the right choice for them. LSSI believes that the birth parent and adoptive parents should mutually agree upon the degree of openness for the adoption process.

Once the child is born, Illinois law requires a minimum of 72 hours before parental surrender may be signed. LSSI becomes the child’s legal guardian and provides post placement monitoring for a period of 6 months before the adoption can be finalized.

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Yes, LSSI supports openness in adoption. As a birth parent, you will be presented with waiting adoptive families. The level of involvement and openness is agreed upon by the birth parents and adoptive parents.

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The time frame for the adoption process can vary. Adoptive parents are in the best position to expedite the adoption process once the home study is completed and the adoptive parents have been licensed. It is possible to be identified by a birth parent very quickly or it could take more than a year to finalize the process.

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You will be provided with non-identifying information about the birth parents such as health history, pre-natal information, age and educational level. Meetings between adoptive and birth parents provides both parties with an opportunity to exchange information and ask questions they each believe to be important.

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Once a birth parent signs a surrender of parental rights in Illinois it is final and irrevocable. If the birth father is unknown, his rights must be terminated in court by your attorney.

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Pricing for the agency infant adoption includes registration, a home study and preparation totaling $2,250.00. There are two program fees totaling $4,000 and a placement fee of $15,000 due at the time of placement.

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To begin the process to adopt or to simply meet with an adoption specialist, please contact an adoption specialist at 1-888-671-0300 or Request Information Online (link to online form).

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LSSI Adoption Services, 1-888-671-0300 or Request Information Online