Congratulations, you have decided to pursue adopting! However, you may be unsure of where to start. Lucky for you, this article can help you find adoption agencies in Houston.
I want to advise you that this article is written from my own personal research and experiences and I do not have an affiliation with any of the agencies listed below. I found they were easy to find online, had a lot of information available, and could possibly help you with your adoption in Houston.
Before I get too deep in this article, I want to encourage you to interview or look into as many adoption agencies as you can. Going through the adoption process is very personal and, at times, can be very emotional, and having an adoption agency (social worker) that you work well with is essential. We chose our adoption agency simply because it was the same one everyone else in our extended family had gone through. We did not look into any other agencies and lucky for us, it worked out. However, hindsight is always 20/20, and I wish I would have looked into other agencies. So now, I always encourage others who are looking into adoption agencies to look into more than one.
Usually, adoption agencies have an informational meeting you can attend. This is a great time to get a feel for the adoption agency and know if they would make a good fit for your family or not. Again, this is just my personal advice, but I have heard from others as well to look into more than one agency. For the sake of this article, however, we will be focusing on adoption agencies in Houston.
I am sure if you are residing in the Houston area, you know that Houston is the largest city in the state of Texas and is the fourth largest city in the United States. It is no wonder there are several adoption agencies in Houston. Below is a list of some adoption agencies in Houston that I found to be the best options, depending on the type of adoption you want to pursue.
Rainbow of Love
Rainbow of Love is located in southwest Houston and is a licensed nonprofit organization that provides social services such as adoption services, parenting classes, counseling, community service, and birth parent assistance. Rainbow of Love places children in three different programs: domestic infant program, domestic preschool program, and their “hard to place” program.
They accept families into their domestic infant program twice a year, spring and fall. They work with local families and families from out of state who have a completed, current, and approved home study. Rainbow of Love will help perform background checks and home study assessments for local families. They also have a preschool program that consists of newborns to kids age 3. The babies placed in the preschool program are Rainbow of Love’s first priority because their birth parents realized after the fact that they should have made an adoption plan for their child. For these children, Rainbow of Love will facilitate a pre-placement period with the families. Lastly, their “hard to place” program is for children between the ages of newborn and 24 months. They are considered “hard to place” because they have one or more of the following criteria: biological mother consumes alcohol, is a heavy smoker, used illegal drugs during her pregnancy, is terminally ill, had no prenatal care during her pregnancy, biological family has a history of mental illness or the child is from a minority group.
If you feel you are ready to start the process with Rainbow of Love, they will first help you decide if you prefer open, semi-open, or closed adoption. An open adoption is a type of adoption where the birth parents and adoptive parents will have some sort of contact. This could be in the form of telephone, email, or mail interactions. The type of communication will be determined between the adoptive and biological parents. A semi-open adoption is very similar but does not share identifying information and uses an agency for ongoing contact. meaning both families would communicate through the agency and the agency would relay the information. A closed adoption is an adoption where no information is shared and the records of all concerned are kept sealed.
For more information contact Rainbow of Love at the following: https://www.rainbowoflove.org/
2700 Lake Olympia Parkway, Suite 103
Missouri City, TX 77459
Phone: (281) 438-6588
Forever Families
Forever Families is one of the adoption agencies I found located in the Houston area. Forever Families is a nonprofit organization that provides adoption and foster placement in Texas. Their steps to becoming an approved adoptive parent are as follows:
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Attend their orientation
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Submit an application and the required documentation
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Complete the training requirement
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Pass all background checks
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Complete a home study
For more information about Forever Families, check them out at the following website: https://www.forfam.org/
Forever Families
12125 Highway 6, Suite A
Fresno, TX 77545
Phone: 713-661-2626
E-mail: info@forfam.org
Texas Adoption Center
Texas Adoption Center is an adoption agency in Houston. Texas Adoption Center is a part of A World for Children, which is a nonprofit based in Texas that has been operating to give services to children and families across Texas for over 20 years. Their steps for becoming adoptive parents include:
– Complete a home study – The home study is to provide information to the agency about yourself, your home, etc. You provide things that are relevant to the well-being of a child. They have a home study application on their website where you can fill out and pay your fee. They also provide a helpful checklist of all the supporting documentation they are going to need from you. For more information about a home study, click here.
– Create an adoption profile – This is a “book” that will be shown to expectant parents. There are several online services that you can use to create photo books on. Every family is unique, so every book is going to be unique. Be creative. You might want to use some of the space to tell a little about yourself. If you have pets, you can include them in the book. It basically is a quick review of who are as individuals and who you are as a couple and how you will be able to bless a child.
– Apply to the agency – There is an application fee included with this. Within two business days, the agency will tell you if your application has been approved.
– View opportunities for a match – Once your application is approved, they will present you with opportunities that they think may be a good match for your family. It is okay to say “no” to a presented match. You know your family better than anyone and you will know your limits as to what you can handle as a family.
– Get matched – Once you are matched the “waiting” begins.
– Birth of the child – You may be asked to head to the hospital as soon the expectant mother is in labor. Of course, every situation is different, but you will have the plans laid out ahead of time. The birth mother may sign paperwork at the hospital allowing the baby to leave the hospital with the adoptive parents. If you live in the state of Texas, you may leave right away. If you reside outside of the state of Texas, there is a longer waiting period before you are able to return to your home state, usually about 10 days.
– Final Steps – In the state of Texas, you are to remain in post-placement services for six months after the birth of the child before the adoption can be finalized.
For more information about Texas Adoption Center, check them out at https://www.texasadoptioncenter.org/
Texas Adoption Center
701 North Post Oak Road, Suite 208
Houston, TX 77024
Phone: 844-893-7943
Caring Adoptions
Caring Adoptions is a nonprofit licensed adoption agency. One really neat thing I like about their agency is that their executive director is an adoptive mother herself. Some of the other staff and board members are also adoptive parents. Sometimes, when you are going through the adoption process, you may feel like you are alone and no one understands what you are going through. Having someone at your agency who has also gone through the adoption process is a huge blessing.
Caring Adoptions offers counseling for birth parents, children, and adoptive parents. They also offer educational seminars, home study services, and post-placement study services. Caring Adoptions also offers a free “Adoption 101” information session for prospective adoptive parents. This is a great way to find out if Caring Adoptions would be a good fit for your family to work with while going through the adoption process. They do also offer one-on-one sessions with a worker as well. Caring Adoptions offers open, semi-open, and closed adoptions. This is another good thing to know about your agency.
When we were going through the adoption process, our agency only offered open adoptions. Making sure you know these things ahead of time will help you determine if the agency is a good fit or not. Caring Adoptions offers domestic adoption in Texas. If the adoptive parents and birth mother live in Texas, Caring Adoptions can facilitate the entire adoption process. If the adoptive parents are located outside of the state of Texas, they work with licensed agencies or attorneys from that state. They are also able to help you with the preparation of a home study. For more information about Caring Adoptions, check them out at https://caringadoptions.org/
Caring Adoptions
11601 Katy Freeway, Suite 222
Houston, TX 77079
Phone: 281-920-4300
Toll-Free: 866-603-7162
Text: 832-526-4333
Email: info@caringadoptions.org
Gladney Center for Adoption
Gladney Center for Adoption is the last of the adoption agencies in Houston I want to showcase. They offer domestic infant adoptions, international adoptions, and foster care adoptions. In order to meet their domestic infant adoptions, you must meet the following criteria:
– Married at least two years
– Live in the United States
– At least one parent must be a U.S. citizen
– Open to the characteristics of children available
If you believe you fit the criteria, you can complete a pre-application form and then submit the same to Gladney along with a family photo. You then must attend a group orientation in Fort Worth, Texas. After those items are finished you will complete the Gladney application and the home study process. They also have a web profile you will submit. After those things are all completed and you are approved and ready to go, Gladney will start presenting you to expectant mothers.
Gladney is also Hague accredited. The Hague Convention protects children and families against the risks of unregulated adoptions abroad. Gladney offers the option to adopt from China, Columbia, and Taiwan. Each country has its own set of requirements to meet.
– Married at least two years
– Only heterosexual couples or single women
– Each parent must be at least 30 years old
– One parent must be a U.S. citizen
– No more than five children under the age of 18 can be living in the home
– The youngest child must be 3 years old
– Flexibility regarding the age of the child
– Openness to a child with a medical condition
– Married for at least one year
– Each parent must be between the ages of 25 and 45
– Each parent must be 15 years older than the child being adopted
– One parent must be a U.S. citizen
– Both parents must travel
– Married for at least two years
– Only heterosexual couples
– Each parent must be between the ages of 25 and 50
– Each parent must be 20 years older than the child being adopted
– One parent must be a U.S. citizen
– No more than three children already living in your home
– Interest in adopting children with special needs ages 3 to 5, children over the age of 5, or a sibling group
– Openness to a child with a medical condition
Gladney also works with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services by finding adoptive homes for children currently in the Texas foster care system. Most of the children they work to find homes for are over 7 years old. Gladney and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services don’t charge any fees to adopt from the foster care system.
For more information on Gladney Center for Adoption check them out at https://adoptionsbygladney.com/
Gladney Center for Adoption
Houston Adoption Office
16903 Red Oak Drive, Suite 203
Houston, TX 77090
Phone: 713-665-1212
I know this is a really quick overview of adoption agencies in Houston but I hope you found the information helpful and are able to put it to use when you decide what agency to work with. I previously mentioned that there are a lot of adoption agencies in Houston and this article only showcased a very small percent of them. Make sure to do your own research and find an agency that will work well with your family. I wish you the best of luck finding an adoption agency that fits your families’ needs.
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