I thought that the best bet for Chris and I would be private adoption as we are hoping to get a baby or very young child. One of the things I was most shocked about was the wait time. It is typically taking couples 3 years to be able to adopt a child.
Three years!
Unfortunately, every year this wait time is getting longer and longer. I think a lot of the reason for this is better availability of birth control, many young girls are now deciding to raise their children as there is less of a stigma as there was in the past, and of course more may be having abortions.
The lady that I was talking to did mention that if we were open to taking in a child whose mother drank alcohol or did drugs while pregnant we would have a better chance of getting a child earlier.
Another thing that I was surprised about was the cost. It costs around $15 000 by the time all is said and done. $5000 is on counseling alone.
To be honest, it was these two things time and cost that made Chris and I decide not to go with this option... at least not now.
Update: I also talked to someone who adopted through the public system and found out it took them FOUR years to be able to adopt their children!
