About Family to Family Adoptions

Congratulations for taking the first step in the journey of a lifetime! Family To Family is a nationwide non-profit adoption and foster care agency that is committed to providing safe and successful adoptions. With respect and professionalism, we support many different types of adoptions, including:

Our staff has helped hundreds of couples and individuals adopt, babies and fulfilling their dreams of parenthood.

As a first step, you will need an application on file with our agency. 

Select the appropriate form, complete it, and return it to our office with your check for the application fee. Be sure to include

with the application as indicated on the form. This will signal your entrance into our program and the first step towards building your family through adoption.

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Next, you will need a home study.

You must have a home study completed prior to being accepted into our program. Family to Family can conduct your home study if you live in the greater Houston area. Otherwise, we can refer you to a reputable social worker in your area.

If you are not using Family To Family as your home study provider, please make copies of your completed home study along with all of the supporting documents, such as medical letters, employment verification, reference letters, etc. When accepting external home studies,Family to Family will ask you to sign a release of information to speak with the social worker who conducted yours. We also conduct FBI, criminal, and child abuse background checks on all prospective adoptive parents as part of the application process.

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Once we receive all the necessary documents to evaluate you for our program, we will notify you of the results of our review. If accepted, you should submit the following documents:

1. Child Placement Contract signed by both parties
2. Fee schedule signed by both parties
3. Letter of Understanding that has been signed and notarized
4. Adoptive Family Worksheet
5. Your check for the initial payment of the agency fee

Family to Family is here to help you through these documents and will provide written notification when you have successfully completed the pre-screening and application process for our adoption program.

Introduce yourself through your adoptive family profile. This usually includes a letter of introduction to the birth mother, stories, and pictures. This is the tool we use to present your family to our birth mothers, so it needs to be done well. Family To Family is available to review your profile and provide suggestions when requested. We will need 10 copies and will return all that are not used.

Once we have your family profile, you join our Active Adoptive Parent List. We do not work on a waiting list, only an active list. When a birth mother meets your criteria as stated in the Adoptive Family Worksheet and you meet her criteria, we will present your profile to her for matching.

Should a birth mother choose to consider your profile, we will ask you to talk on the telephone with her to begin to determine if you and the birth mother want to continue towards a match. Typically, birth mothers will talk to more than one potential adoptive family and may voice concerns or preferences for their child’s upbringing that you should consider.  Following this initial telephone conversation, Family to Family will consult with birth mothers and prospective adoptive parents on the path forward towards adoption. 

If both you and your birth mother want to continue with the process, Family to Family will schedule an in-person or virtual meeting and attend it with you. If you and the birth mother both agree to match, then you will sign an adoption plan. An adoption plan indicates that the birth mother has chosen you as the adoptive family and you have agreed to match. The adoption plan also includes the post-placement contact that you have agreed upon with your birth mother. 

After the initial meeting, you and your birth mother will continue to develop a relationship prior to the birth of your child. Be sure to take lots of pictures for your baby’s album.

In most cases, you attend the birth of the baby. You will travel to where your child is being born, and the adoptive family is often invited by the birth mother to be in the delivery room or onsite at the hospital when the baby is born. About 70% of our placements are here in the Houston area.  The infant will remain in the hospital for 48  hours after birth, to ensure his or her health and to allow for the proper paperwork to be executed.

After the baby has been released from the hospital and his or her birth parents have relinquished their parental rights, you may take the child from the hospital. A Family to Family staff member will accompany you. At that time you will be given documents to sign that will enable your insurance company to cover the child as if you gave birth to her. If you reside outside the State of Texas or your child is born in a different state from which you reside, we will complete the Interstate Compact requirements and notify you when you may return home with your child.

‍Post-placement supervision is required. Family To Family will conduct these visits if you live locally or contact your home study agency to give instructions about Texas requirements for post-placement reports to be completed during the six (6) months you wait before you can finalize your adoption as per Texas legal statute. The State of Texas requires five post-placement visits before the consent to finalization can be signed.

Finalization of your adoption can occur in Texas or your home state. Texas has no residency clause in its adoption laws. If you reside in Texas or even if you reside in another state, you are free to finalize your adoption in Texas after the child has been in your home for six (6) months and your post-placement supervision has been completed.

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Family to Family offers a wide range of professional services to assist families with adoption.

If your family goals include any of these situations, let us put our experience to work for you. If we are unable to help, we maintain a wide network of referral services to get your family the assistance you need.

We welcome all prospective adoptive parents and encourage you to call for more information if you reside in a multigenerational or nontraditional household.

Family to Family Adoptions is committed to transparency in our fee structure. Costs vary depending on the type of adoption and the unique needs of each situation.

Registration Fee - Due at time of registration with application

Registration Fee - Due at time of registration with application

• $750 In-State Registration
  
• $1,500 Out of State Registration

Infant Domestic Adoption with Family to Family

In situations where Family to Family matches a birth mother with an adoptive family, the base agency fee is $35,000 which will be charged as follows:

• $15,000 due after acceptance into the program, includes adoption preparation & networking
• $10,000 due at match with birth mother
• $10,000 due at placement of infant

In addition to the base agency fee, birth mother expenses are paid on a monthly basis and vary based on individual needs such as medical care, housing, transportation and other allowed support.

Foster Care Adoption 

In situations where a family adopts a child who is currently in the custody of the Texas Department of Family and Child Services, no agency fees are charged to the family.  Additional support may be available through state programs.

Special Needs & Medically Fragile Adoption 

Fees for special needs or medically fragile adoptions vary based on the child’s circumstances and the level of care required.  Whether a child is considered special needs or medically fragile is determined by the agency.

• Fee Range: $5,000 to $15,000

Agency fee is due at the time of placement in the home and is determined by the needs of the child and the services required to support a stable placement.