Single Parent Adoption: Love, Strength, and Family

About one-third of all adoptions in the state of America are by single parents. Therefore, the child finds their permanency with single parents mostly. However, over the past decade, single parent adoptions in the United States have increased, raising moral values and consciousness about the societal responsibilities of children without parents.

There has been a growing acceptance of single parent adoption in recent years; according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, out of 67000 adoptions in the U.S., 23000 adoptions were made by single parents only.

Single Parent Adoption Requirements

We need to focus on understanding the single parent adoption requirements since they widely vary in each state based on certain factors such as country, state, regional location, and the agency involved in the procedure.

Before you get into the requirement stages as a single parent adoption, you must choose either your want domestic adoption, which means a child born in the united states only, or adoption from a different country.

In most cases, the child that will be adopted would be prioritized over the parents’ needs and requirements. The child’s needs and specific requirements must be prioritized first, and the parents will get the associated condition to meet.

Over 25% of households in the United States with dependent children are headed by single parents only, which sets the foundation for foster care adoption. You can look forward to following four types of domestic adoption agencies you may need to know.

• Public Adoption Agencies
• Private Adoption Agencies
• Attorney
• Facilitated or Unlicensed Agencies

More than 100,000 children are waiting to be adopted in foster care, according to recent studies based on the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and
Reporting System report.

In general, the single parent adoption requirements typically involve the following criteria that must be met.

1. Age
   • If you want to adopt a child, you are considered a prospective parent and must be at least 18 years old. However, there must be a maximum age limit benefits in some cases.
2. Income Resources
   • Your total income and earning resources must account for liabilities; financial stability matters. Therefore, you must have a stable income source to support yourself and your adopted child.
3. Total Health
   • The fitness of the Prospective Parent would be a factor to advocate before you as a parent can adopt a child to ensure you are physically and mentally fit to take responsibility for the children. In addition, you must undergo a medical evaluation for the process to move further.
4. Home study Evaluation
   • Home is where you and your child stay, which plays a significant role in assisting both your safety and security. Therefore, your home would be keenly studied to derive an evaluation that ensures whether you have a healthy living home or not.
5. Criminal background check
   • You can get a straight rejection to adopt a child if you’ve any criminal activity. You must have no criminal background to have single parent adoption requirements. Remember, the investigation of your background check would be stringent, and there’s no saving. Please don’t try to hide anything fishy here.

Note that, in some instances, depending upon the eligibility of prospective parents, you might be asked to take parenting classes or tutors before you adopt a child. That is fine since many parents who want to adopt children don’t have prior experience raising the kids.

Can a Single Parent Adopt a Child?

To cut the chaos about the procedure, yes. But the question is how can a single parent adopt a child. Although the process and application stages for single parents are similar to those couples, the time required to complete the adoption procedure usually may be several months to even years.

Generally, the time required in the adoption process may depend on several factors. You can get to know them as follow.

• Age and Needs of the Children Being Adopted
• Availability of the Waiting Children
• Preferences of the Birth Parents
• Adoption Agencies
• The requirements and laws in the state or country

Single Woman Adoption

Approximately 66 million single women, as per the U.S. Census Bureau. There are over 126,000 children in the united states waiting to be adopted. Here, you can get the required information about single woman adoption.

We have undergone the prerequisites for single woman adoption; this is similar to those couples in different states. However, we must notice that the specific requirements may vary depending upon the law and regulation of the state and agency involved.

Adopting as a single woman has never been a cakewalk; can single women adopt? This will always be a social stigma. Your everyday life has never been as busy as your life after adoption. But, with Children, we are bound to have responsibility.

Many single moms are making a difference through child adoption because you not only adopt a child but also adopt absolute reliability, where your stand will be measured in front of the societal eye. We shall discuss several factors that influence the decision in single woman adoption.

1. Legal Requirements
   • We cannot present the specific laws of each country. However, you must know that legal requirements vary in each state. The jurisdiction of some states can be severe or stringent regarding your eligibility for single mother adoption, where you might have to suffer with can single women adopt? But you can always have a way out by hiring a professional attorney.
2. Social Stigma
   • There’s a social stigma spread about children without parents; they say such children are filthy, and we unconsciously get to adapt to such narratives and develop the social stigma about single woman adoption.
3. Extra Attention
   • This was when we had never grown up as children. It feels extra, especially when you are alone and single. When you adopt a child, you must pay your children attention, something you never tend to be.

We see how single mothers face multiple challenges from their adoption, although their intrinsic motivation and high will to adopt takes a toll on everything. However, we also need to mention that single father adoption is also getting appreciated.

See More: Surprising Single Mother Statistics

Adopting as a Single Parent

The increasingly common trend of adopting as a single parent in the United States may have some perks. However, you might wonder what’s good about the complex adoption procedures, especially after you finally get the children.

You must get the benefits under federal assistance for single mothers or fathers adopting as a single parent. Here, we shall discuss the perks you can get after your adoption.

1. Federal Adoption Assistance
   • The maximum benefit you can achieve under federal adoption assistance is $2000 per child annually. However, while singles adopting children with special needs, this amount can be extended.
   • Such FAA assistance support may get continued until the child becomes 18. In addition, some states may provide extra benefits besides Medicare, education, therapy, parenting tutors, etc.
2. Adoption tax credit
   • You must meet certain income and other criteria for such credit, which will be non-refundable. This can only offset taxes owed; unused credit may carry forward for up to 5 years. The maximum benefit amount is $14,440 per child.
   • Adopting a parent’s income and other factors associated with your earning resources, the adoption tax credit might have certain limitations and phase-out rules that a professional financial advisor must understand.
3. Social Security Benefits
   • Under social security benefits, adoptive parents can get regular financial assistance to care for their children, especially when they have specific needs or disabilities.
   • The adoptive child must be under 18 or possess a clinically proven disability before the child turns 22. A parent below the federal poverty line or low-income can also get survival benefits under social security assistance.
4. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
   • The eligible employees can get up to 12 weeks of unpaid and job-protected annual leave for childcare, newborn children, or adopted children.
   • Some employers also provide paid leave for child care or foster care. However, according to the rule, the adoptive parent must have worked at least 1250 hours in the last 12 months or 1 year to be qualified for the FMLA benefits.

See More: Get Free Apartments For Single Mothers Today

Positive Outlook: Single Mothers Adoption

It is always important to consider the positive outlook despite several challenges that we assume about the life of a single parent, especially after the child’s adoption. can single women adopt?

Societal stigma has somehow been attached to single mothers adoption, although the excellent talk here is that they can also share some quality life things that we shall discuss here.

• Easy access to Support
  • Adopting a single mom could have been challenging if there would not have been federal and domestic assistance and support for single mothers or singles adopting. Several federal programs and community help centers deliver support to adoptive parents.
• Personal Fulfillment
  • Adopting as a single mom can be a profoundly fulfilling experience that can give you some aim or purpose in life. You learn to live with empathy and compassion when you strive to live with children.
• Free Decision Making
  • We should always consider the other side of being single. Here you do not have to consult your partner for every decision you would like to make to or in the direction of the child’s growth and development.
• Quickly Adoption
  • Those children are harder to place or difficult to be adopted by the couples because of their unique needs, disabilities, or older age. You can get a quick adoption due to being a single parent.
• Societal Recognition
  • Despite being a single parent, you are well-appreciated when you adopt a child. This is always respected in the eye of the people. You are recognized for the contribution you would be making through foster care or child care after adoption.

See More: Free Online Childcare Training Courses With Certificates

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve comprehensively covered the topic of single parent adoption and its requirement, along with how can a single parent adopt a child. We’ve also highlighted the positive outlook for being a single parent, especially while adopting as a single woman.

References

• Improving customer service: Prospective parent orientation sessions: 10 things you can do
• The adoption process in single-parent families. Journal of Human Growth and Development 31(1), 47-57
• Do single parent adoptions have equal long-term outcomes for the child as couple adoptions?

FAQs