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Adoption fundraising refers to the process of raising funds to cover the expenses associated with adoption. Adoption can be costly, involving agency services, legal fees, travel expenses, home studies, medical bills, and expectant parent expenses. Since these costs add up quickly, many adopting families turn to fundraising as a way to help cover some of the costs associated with the adoption process.

Adoption fundraising encompasses many different avenues, including:

 Setting up online fundraising campaigns on platforms like GoFundMe, Kickstarter, YouCaring, or AdoptTogether, where friends, family, and even strangers can donate money to support the adoption process.

 Hosting fundraising events such as dinners, auctions, concerts, or charity runs where attendees can purchase tickets or make donations to support the adoption cause.

 Selling merchandise like T-shirts (BonFire is a great resource for hopeful adoptive parents), bracelets, or other items with proceeds going towards adoption expenses.

 Applying for adoption grants or scholarships offered by organizations, foundations, or churches to assist with adoption costs.

 Making direct appeals to friends, family, and community members through letters, emails, or social media posts explaining the need for financial assistance in the adoption journey.

Adoption fundraising is often a creative, crucial way for prospective adoptive parents to make their dreams of expanding their family a reality, especially for those facing financial constraints…we know most people don’t have an additional $30,000 - $50,000 in the bank to cover adoption costs. 

However, it's important to approach fundraising ethically and transparently, ensuring that the funds received are used responsibly and conservatively.

Positive Adoption Fundraising - A Birth Mother’s Perspective

Adoption is expensive…too expensive. Especially when you consider that most of the hefty fees you’re paying to adoption consultants, facilitators, or agencies go to their marketing and advertising budgets…not to provide additional support and resources for expectant moms.

My goal is never to rain on your parade or to tear apart your adoption journey. My goal is to simply share my perspective as a birth mom and show you another way of thinking about things - even when it’s hard to hear sometimes. 

But when we know better, we do better, so try and remain empathetic and if something feels icky - don’t do it.

And when you’re considering fundraising for your adoption, I encourage you to keep these thoughts in mind:

: When you’re setting your goal to fundraise for your adoption journey, your goal shouldn’t be to fundraise the entire cost of your adoption. Make sure your household is making financial changes to afford this process. If the cost is $30,000, set your goal at $15,000-$20,000.

 is nearly $16,000. This means if you fundraise the full amount of your adoption fees, and receive a $15,950 tax credit…you’ve essentially profited off the adoption process. 

And speaking as a birth mom, that feels gross to me.

: Be clear and upfront about the purpose of the fundraising efforts. Clearly communicate your fundraising goal, how the funds will be used, your overall fundraising efforts, and provide regular updates on the progress of your adoption journey without sharing personal details.

Hot tip: Create a private adoption Facebook group for friends and family only! It’s a great way to keep everyone updated on your adoption journey!

: Respect the privacy and dignity of everyone involved in the adoption process, especially birth parents. Avoid sharing sensitive information, personal details, or intimate parts of their story or an adoptee's story…that information should be theirs to hold and share if or when they want. This includes sharing personal information about birth parents (homelessness, addiction, incarceration, family medical history) and information surrounding the birth of a child (prenatal substance exposure, withdrawals, birth story).

: Some adoptees have complex feelings about being adopted, especially surrounding the cost of their adoption. Knowing their family fundraised to cover adoption costs can add an additional layer of complexity. Those feelings are sometimes exacerbated by the comments of some well-meaning family members when they say “I helped pay for you” or “you were an expensive baby.” How will your future teenager feel when they learn their full adoption story - loved, proud, embarrassed, commodified?

 As a birth mom, I have strong feelings about using crowdfunding platforms for your adoption. Hang around me long enough and you’ll find me on a soap box about it at least once, so I’ll save those thoughts for another day and instead ask you to consider this question when you’re setting up a CrowdFunding page - 

Would you donate to a pregnant woman’s GoFundMe to help cover her rent, utilities, and time off work so that she could keep her family intact? 

This isn’t to say you can’t accept donations from family, friends, and co-workers…but maybe accept it privately instead of asking for it publicly.

Additional questions to ask yourselves when considering adoption fundraising:

 making to cover adoption costs? Where can we cut our budget to save money?

Are our fundraising ideas respectful of potential expectant parents?

How would this make a potential expectant parent feel? Would we be embarrassed if they knew how we were fundraising?

Will we feel comfortable telling our future child how we fundraised for their adoption?

These grant and loan programs are meant to help you navigate the financial part of your adoption journey. The resource list below is presented in no particular order. Keep in mind that these resources are ever-changing, so please read carefully.

: The Adoption Aid grant, which ranges from $6,000 to $10,000, is designed to reduce financial barriers associated with adoption. The organization also provides $6,000 Medical Care grants to assist families with medical expenses for adopted children.

: Grants of up to $3,000 to two-parent, Christian, traditional families.

: Grants of up to $20,000 are awarded four times a year to families with significant financial barriers to adoption.

: Grants of up to $15,000 are awarded to qualified applicants for both domestic and international adoptions. The average grant is $4,000.

: Grants range from $500 to $2,000, depending on the needs of the family and circumstances surrounding the adoption.

The award range varies from family to family. There is no maximum household income limit but financial need must be demonstrated. You must be Christian and married to qualify and be working with a licensed 501(c)(3) adoption agency.

Open to citizens of the U.S. and Canada adopting domestically, including through foster care, this grant offers up to $10,000 to cover final adoption costs.

: Lifesong for Orphans guides adopting families through the fundraising process, removing the financial barriers to adoption. Families can apply to receive matching grants, interest-free loans, and access to a free crowdfunding platform.

: specific to covering the cost of utilizing specialized medical professionals

: A quarterly grant provided for home study-approved families with amounts determined on a case-by-case basis.

: Zoe’s Rainbow grants are awarded through The Never Alone Foundation, an organization that assists parents in bringing orphaned children home by helping them with the immense expense involved in international adoption.

JSC Foundation’s hope is to assist Christian couples for whom the cost of adoption is a hardship. They are pleased to be able to partner with some of these families as they step out in faith by following the call, allowing one more orphan to come home to their forever family.

 - AdoptTogether is the world's largest non-profit crowdfunding platform for adoption.

Pathways for Little Feet: Interest-Free Adoption Loans

 - Pathways’ interest-free loan program provides up to $10,000 in adoption financial assistance.

 - Low-rate adoption loans are great for both international and domestic adoption. Use the funds for expenses such as agency, court, and lawyer fees, a home study, or travel costs.

Some adoption fundraisers will make you more money than others, some are more creative than others, and some take more time and effort than others. But at the end of the day, these are fun and creative ideas to ask your friends, family and community to support you on your adoption journey.

 Everyone loves a good t-shirt…or at the very least, most people will buy a t-shirt. Sites like 

 allow you to design your shirt, promote it and sell it, with no upfront cost. You don’t have to keep track of inventory or manage shipping - Bonfire handles all of that!

: Choose a puzzle that's meaningful to your family or your adoption journey, and create a fundraiser selling the pieces! Decide on a $ amount per puzzle piece, and when someone purchases one (or a few!) they get to sign the back of their pieces (or sign for them). Once all the pieces are sold, assemble your puzzle and hang it in the nursery or somewhere special in your home!

: Take a load off other busy families by offering Easter Bunny services on Easter weekend. Charge a set amount based on the number of eggs you're offering and ‘egg’ people's yards the night before Easter! Kids will love waking up to a yard full of colorful Easter eggs, and Mom and Dad will love not having to do the egg-work!

 Everyone loves a yard sale, especially when it’s for a good cause! Don’t think you have enough stuff for a yard sale on your own? Ask your friends and family, even your neighbors to help out - chances are they have some stuff they’ve been meaning to take to Goodwill for months now. Take it up a notch and have a bake sale at your yard sale!

: This is a classic fundraiser that is so easy to facilitate. Many franchised restaurants do fundraiser nights in their locations, where you can sign up for a night and they give you a flier to hand out to everyone you possibly can. On your given fundraiser night, a set percentage (usually 10-20%) of the profits from everyone who brings in the flier goes back to you! That’s the catch though - you only get money from the tables that bring in your flier, so you want to get it in as many hands as possible and remind everyone when your fundraiser is!

Some restaurants that offer community fundraising nights: Buffalo Wild Wings, California Pizza Kitchen, Jason’s Deli, Newks, Pita Pit, and Chipotle, just to name a few!

: If you’re traveling to pick up your new addition, or are adopting an older child this is such a fun idea. Buy a suitcase and let your friends and family pay $5 to ‘tag the bag!’ Everyone pays $5 and they get to sign their name and write a short note on the suitcase. It’s such a simple way to fundraise, but it’s something special your child is going to be able to keep forever.

This is by no means an extensive list of options for adoption fundraisers - just a short list to get the creative juices flowing. Other options to try might be organizing a community 5K, a spaghetti dinner, a neighborhood block party, selling football squares or organizing a bracket challenge, selling baked goods, or wrapping Christmas gifts.

Adoption assistance comes in many different ways, like a tax credit or benefits from your workplace or military service.

The adoption tax credit is a one-time, federal tax credit available to help offset the costs of adopting a child. It is designed to assist adoptive parents with the expenses associated with the adoption process, including adoption fees, court costs, attorney fees, travel expenses, and other eligible adoption-related expenses.

The adoption tax credit is non-refundable, meaning it can reduce your tax liability to zero but cannot result in a refund if the credit exceeds your tax liability. However, any unused credit can be carried forward for up to five years. For the 2023 tax year, the maximum credit allowed is $15,950.

To learn more about the Adoption Tax Credit and how to utilize it, our friends at Creating a Family have compiled all of the essential 

this page to find our Adoption Tax Credit Calculator!

Employer benefits for adoption vary widely depending on the company and its policies. However, more and more employers are offering some form of adoption assistance or benefits to support employees who are adopting.

Some employers provide financial assistance to help cover adoption-related expenses. This assistance may come in the form of reimbursement for adoption fees, legal fees, and other eligible expenses. The amount and eligibility criteria for financial assistance can vary greatly from one employer to another.

Need help talking to your HR department about implementing adoption benefits? The Dave Thomas Foundation put together an 

Adoption-Friendly Workplace Employer Toolkit

 to support employers looking to grow their adoption benefits.

Hot Tip: 70% of employers add benefits because their employees ask for them. PairTree will contact your employer on your behalf! Scroll down 

 to fill out our HR Contact Request Form.

Creating a Family: 9 Ways an Average Person Can Pay for Adopting a Child

Purl Adoptions: Funding Your Adoption With Adoption Grants

Adoption is too expensive, which is a huge issue in adoption today...but unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be changing. In fact, the cost of adoption has been steadily on the rise over the last few years. 

We believe the high fees being charged in adoption encourage unethical behavior that is not in an expectant mom's best interest and leads to coercive and predatory practices.

 While we’re working to lower the cost of adoption in the US, we still want to help families afford to grow their family through adoption - so we created the Ultimate Guide to Funding Your Adoption.

Before we dive into adoption fundraising and taking your adoption journey public, there are two things we encourage you to keep in mind:

Don’t Overshare - be mindful of sharing personal details about the child you hope to adopt. Those few details you know are the most important details in their life at that moment and shouldn’t be shared far and wide.

Be Sensitive to Those Around You - you never know who in your audience may be an adoptee or birth parent, and they may be sensitive to your situation and fundraising efforts.

Introduce and explain adoption fundraising

Provide adoption grant and loan information

Download your own copy of our "How to Fund Your Adoption" Guide!

How to Fund Your Adoption: The Complete Guide to Affording Adoption

Children’s books are one of the best tools adoptive parents have to help navigate the complexities of adoption. Reading children’s books about adoption from birth helps young kids become familiar with adoption and their adoption story from an early age, and make sure your library includes books that represent all members of the adoption triad. This will help you to normalize adoption in your home. 

There are many more warm and loving children's books about adoption, but these are our favorites - encompassing the perspectives of all members of the triad and acknowledging that adoption can be both/and.

Written from a birth mothers perspective, 

 beautifully shows the journey of a birth mother, the incredibly complex decision she has to make, and the immeasurable love a birth mother has for her child. It’s important to show a child their origin story, not just their story from the moment they came home with you.

Surrounded by Love: An Open Adoption Story

This incredible children's book (written by an adoptee and adoptive mom) shares one family's adoption journey through the help of an adorable, wise owl…making it fun, engaging and relatable for young kids. Talking about adoption in your home doesn’t always have to be a monumental task, even though it may feel like that some days.

Adopting Families Support Group with Allison Olson

, adult adoptee, adoptive mom, and author of Surrounded by Love, where we discuss how to talk to your kids about adoption, how her children's book can help, and how to normalize adoption in your home.

Tell Me My Story: What Does Adopted Mean?

 series, this sweet book captures the way a young child might begin to process their adoption story, and all of the complex questions and big emotions to come. Relatable, educational, supportive, and thoughtful, What Does Adopted Mean? is a tool to help normalize adoption conversations in your home at any age.

 gives an age-appropriate explanation of some common adoption terms that may be difficult for young kids to understand. Utilize this book to help create conversations that are both natural and necessary as your kiddo begins to process how adoption is woven into their own story.

Written for younger adoptees, and their families, this children’s book acknowledges that adoption is both happy and sad, and that it’s okay to be happy and a little sad about their adoption sometimes. This book aims to provide you and your family with a guide to start conversations around the complexities of adoption.

For adoptees, learning about and understanding their adoption is a process - not a single conversation. This heartwarming story uses an everyday occurrence of a family member's pregnancy to begin a discussion about birth families, first families and an adoptee's birth story.

Focusing on the significance of family and love, this is a unique and beautiful story about adoption and the importance of a loving family. A beautiful adoption story, 

 also speaks to the universal childhood desire to know more about the excitement, awe, love, and sleeplessness that a new baby brings to a family.

Family is about love no matter how different parents and children may be, adopted or not. This classic story has become one of the most highly recommended stories about adoption for children.

In this classic adoption picture book for children, common issues in adoption are addressed―from the enduring force of a birth parent's love and contact post-adoption to the importance of nurturing an adopted child in his or her new environment. It is a timeless and enduring tale of sacrifice, wisdom and love.

We’re big believers in knowing where we’ve been, so we can have a better understanding of where we’re going…and what needs to change. The history of adoption is dark and buried in secrecy, but filled with stories of strength. By understanding adoptions sordid history and educating ourselves, even when it’s hard to take in, we are poised to become better adoptive parents, adoption professionals, and allies.

Adoption Unfiltered: Revelations from Adoptees, Birth Parents, Adoptive Parents and Allies

By Sara Easterly, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, & Lori Holden

The most important book in modern adoption, 

 is a book that will impact adoption for generations to come. Filled with interviews from over 50 members of the adoption constellation, with adoptee voices at the center, Adoption Unfiltered sheds light on uncomfortable truths and inspires change in adoption. It often isn’t easy to find common ground in adoption, but these incredible authors come together from all sides of the adoption triad and include all voices in the adoption constellation to bring truth, transparency, and healing to support adoptees, birth families and adoptive families.

For more insights and education, check out the 

American Baby: A Mother, A Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption

The shocking truth about postwar adoption in America, told through the bittersweet story of one teenager, the son she was forced to relinquish, and their search to find each other. 

 illuminates a dark time in our history and shows a path to reunion that can help heal the wounds inflicted by years of shame and secrecy.

The Girls Who Went Away: The History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe V. Wade

 is not only a historical account but also a testament to the resilience and strength of the women who lived through the darkest time in adoption. Through Fessler's compassionate storytelling, the book brings to the forefront the lasting legacy of this hidden social history and its impact on the lives of those involved, sharing the stories of over 100 women who surrendered children in the years before Roe v. Wade.

 explores the world of adoption from the viewpoint of adoptees. Russian adoptee Elena S. Hall shares her own story and thoughts on the subject of adoption in addition to interviews from other adoptees of different ages, heritages, and perspectives. Whether you are an adoptive parent, curious about adoption, or an adoptee yourself, this unique collection of memoirs provides real insight into lives directly impacted by adoption.

The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption

 is a shocking exposé of what the adoption industry has become and how it got there, told through deep investigative reporting and the heartbreaking stories of individuals who became collateral damage in a market driven by profit and, now, faith based commands.

20 Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew

As an adoptee, Sherrie Eldridge knows firsthand the need for a safe space to ask questions and access to the most basic of information. This incredible book gives a voice to unspoken fears and concerns of adopted children and helps guide adoptive parents on how to create a space for their children to ask questions without shame or fear.

You can listen to an interview with author Sherrie Eldridge on the Creating a Family podcast: 

Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew

 illuminates the worlds of foster care and adoption through the personal stories Moody witnessed and experienced in her many years working in the foster care and adoption systems. These compelling stories about real people and situations illustrate larger life lessons about the way our society values—and fails to value—parents and children.

 to Erin’s interview with Anne Moody as they talk about chapter 26 (adoption scams) in The Children Money Can Buy.

The Baby Market: The Case for Adoption Reform

The Open Hearted Way to Open Adoption: Helping Your Child Grow Up Whole

Through their own stories and those of other families of open adoption, Lori and Crystal review the secrets to success, the pitfalls and challenges, the joys and triumphs. More than a how-to, this book shares a mindset, a heartset, that can be learned and internalized, so parents can choose to act out of love and honesty throughout their child’s growing up years, helping that child to grow up whole.

You can learn more from Lori on her podcast, 

Hole in My Heart: Love and Loss in the Fault Lines of Adoption

, the author uses her skills as a journalist to report on the social history and long-term consequences of family separation. If you like true stories with strong women narrators, you’ll love Lorraine Dusky’s timely and heart-rending memoir about motherhood, identity and love.

A collection of heartfelt and sincere letters expressing gratitude from adoptive parents to the birthmothers who made the difficult decision to entrust them with the care of their babies. This open adoption guide provides an emotional and personal insight into the complex and often emotional journey of adoption.

Before You Adopt: A Guide to the Questions You Should be Asking

This workbook is filled with all of the essential questions pre-adoptive parents need to ask themselves before pursuing adoption, including the different types of adoption, selecting the right agency, managing expectations, and important conversations to have with each other and those around you.

 is full of helpful advice and guidance for talking about adoption to your friends and family…and everyone else in your life.

We Were Once A Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America

 is a revelation of vulnerable lives; it is also a shattering exposé of the foster care and adoption systems that produced this tragedy. The result is a riveting narrative and a deeply reported indictment of a system that continues to fail America’s most vulnerable children while upending the lives of their families.

To read more about “We Were Once a Family,” check out our 

This book delves into the psychological and emotional impact of separation between birth mothers and their adopted children, exploring what Verrier refers to as the "primal wound." Focused on the experience of adopted individuals, the book dives into the profound effects of early separation from birth parents and the ensuing challenges faced by adoptees.

An often silenced member of the adoption triad, birth parents have a voice that needs to be heard. These books are all heart-breaking, inspirational, and educational, and share the deeply personal journeys and memoirs of birth mothers. Listening to and learning from birth mothers brings to life the women behind the loss.

In this love letter to her son, Hope shows how messy and chaotically beautiful adoption can be, by sharing the authentic details of her remarkable story. From her struggles, you’ll see how your community can help you rebuild and be reminded of how important it is to find your voice and speak up for what you need when life hands you unexpected difficulties.

The Sixteenth Year: An Open Adoption Memoir 

Leah pulls you into her story as she shares her heart. Vulnerable and tender, 

 offers a raw look into her story, not only through pregnancy and adoption but as a testimony of how God has used broken pieces of her life to heal and grow. From pre-pregnancy to life today and her bond with her teenage daughter, you’ll be inspired by her steps of faith, the grace discovered within her journey, and the transformational approach to adoption.

To follow more of Leah's story, you can follow her on 

Written to inform and encourage adoptive (or hoping to be) parents, it gives a why and how to navigate these important relationships by recognizing and revealing the life-long connection between birth and adoptive parents.

Education is so important in adoption, but adoption education extends far beyond the requirements during the home study process. 

Adoption professionals and parents alike should never stop learning and educating themselves about adoption, and trying to be better than the day before. There are some amazing books available to learn about the history of adoption, hear different voices and perspectives from members of the adoption constellation, and children's books to help lay the groundwork for complex conversations.

We've broken down our favorite adoption-related books into these important categories:

The Ultimate Adoption Reading List

In the 1950’s, a group of social workers convened to look at the regulation of interstate child placements, specifically in the foster care system. This group identified three main problems with the current child welfare system between states.

There was no protection for children who moved across state lines.

The sending state had no power to ensure proper care and protection of the child by the receiving state.

The sending state had no power to compel the receiving state to provide services and support to the child.

These findings resulted in the creation of the 

Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)

 – which is one of the few federal adoption laws our country has. The first draft of the ICPC was introduced in 1960, and by 1990 all 50 states, DC, and the US Virgin Islands had enacted the Compact into law. While the ICPC was originally drafted to monitor children moved from state to state for foster care placements, it is also a requirement for private adoption.

Fun Fact: New York was the first state to sign on and ratify the Compact in 1960.

 - the state where the sending agency or attorney is located, or the state in which the court holds exclusive jurisdiction over a child, which causes, permits or enables the child to be sent to another state.

 - the state to which a child is sent, brought or caused to be sent or brought, whether by public authorities or private persons or agencies, and whether for placement with state or local public authorities or for placement with private agencies or persons.

 - the arrangement for the care of a child in a home of a relative or unrelated individual, in a boarding home or in a child-caring agency or institution, but does not include any institution caring for the mentally ill, mentally defective or epileptic, or any institution primarily educational in character, and any hospital or other medical facility.

 - a party state, officer or employee thereof; a subdivision of a party state, or officer or employee thereof; a court of a party state; a person, corporation, association, charitable agency or other entity having legal authority over a child who sends, brings, or causes to be sent or brought any child to another party state.

- the individual person responsible for final approval of all ICPC packets in each state.

 - the ICPC checklist is a list of requirements (documents, clearances, statements) to include in an ICPC packet. Each state has different adoption laws, therefore each state has a different ICPC Checklist.

 - the information an adoption professional needs to collect, organize and submit on behalf of the adopting family. This will include all items required by both state’s ICPC checklists.

Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children

 is a federal law that was enacted to protect children moving across state lines and provide a clear process for sending and receiving states to ensure both state’s adoption laws are followed accordingly.

No matter what state you live in, if you are adopting from a different state, you must complete the ICPC process and meet the ICPC regulations and requirements.

At its core, the ICPC process is the collection and submission of a giant packet of documents and information by an adoption professional on behalf of an adopting family. The ICPC process on average takes 2 weeks, but can take longer or can move quicker. There is no exact timeframe. During the ICPC process, you will be expected to remain in the sending state until both states have approved the placement and allow you to travel home. The ICPC process is comprised of 5 main steps:

Once placement has occurred (the baby has been discharged and consents have been signed) and all required documents have been gathered and organized, the ICPC packet and application can be submitted. The placing agency or attorney in the sending state (state the child is born in) will assemble the ICPC packet on your behalf (as the adopting family) and submit it to the sending state’s ICPC Compact Administrator. 

Attention to detail is key when assembling an ICPC packet…missing documents can result in delays or complications. Every state has different submission procedures; some states will allow the submission of electronic packets, while others require hard copies.

Once the ICPC packet has been submitted, the sending state will review each document for completeness and accuracy. If there are any missing documents, incomplete documents or inaccuracies, the ICPC Compact Administrator will call your adoption professional to inform them, ask questions, or ask for the documents to be resubmitted. Anticipate the sending state’s review-al process to take 7-10 business days.

After the sending state reviews and approves the ICPC packet, it is then sent to the receiving state (your home state) to review. It’s important to remember that the two states do not review packets at the same time…the sending state must approve before the packet can be sent to the receiving state. 

Because some states don’t allow electronic submissions, this packet of information must often be FedEx’d to the receiving state’s ICPC Compact Administrator. The receiving state will direct all communication to your adoption professional. You should never call the ICPC office (in either state) yourself…all communication should go through your agency or attorney.

Once both states have reviewed and approved the ICPC packet, you will be able to head home! 

Prior to approval, you are not authorized to leave the sending state and go home. If you were to leave the state, and a document was missing from your packet that needed to be signed, you would need to go back to the sending state to sign any missing documentation. (ICPC packets often require original and notarized signatures)

Even though both states have approved the placement of your child and you are free to go home, the ICPC process isn’t over quite yet. All Post-Placement reports prior to finalization will also be submitted to the ICPC Compact Administrator for their records. Once the adoption has been finalized, your adoption professional will submit one final form to the ICPC offices to close your file with them.

The ICPC process can be daunting to say the least, but for a qualified, experienced adoption professional, it’s a simple project. Navigating through the ICPC process is just one of the many reasons we recommend working with a 

While most of the work in the ICPC process will lie with your adoption professional, there are still a few things you can do to ease some of the stress and anxiety while you wait.

Even before you travel for the birth of a baby, you should have a physical or digital folder of all of your documents pertaining to your adoption journey. This should include copies of:

Proof of completion of your adoption education. 

Having all these documents within arms reach will start your ICPC process off on the right foot.

It’s important to establish and maintain good relationships with your adoption professionals, case workers, and legal staff. Let your home study provider know when you’re traveling out of state in case there are any additional documents they need to provide. Be kind and respectful of them, and keep in mind that your team is doing everything they can to get you home as fast as possible.

Advocate for yourself, but be respectful of the process. The ICPC process is in place for a reason - to make sure that your kiddo (and all other children) is in the safest situation possible. 

Respond in a timely manner when your professional asks for additional information or documentation and they will do the same. Remember - do not call the ICPC Compact Administrator directly - all communication must go through your adoption professional.

The most important step in the process! Being patient and flexible will serve you well during the ICPC process. Be understanding that situations outside of everyone’s control may happen, and unforeseen circumstances may arise.

 unless you’re adopting from the same state you live in. Not only is the ICPC process one of the few federal laws regarding adoption in the US, it is a vital step of every out-of-state adoption process to ensure the safety of all children placed for adoption.

Being expected to spend an undetermined amount of time in an unknown state can turn the coolest of cucumbers into a nervous nellie. But we encourage you to look at the ICPC process as a gift, not something you have to “get through." 

It’s not just another step in the process…you get to spend two weeks in a new state with your new baby, away from work, friends, and family, soaking in your new normal. You’ll never get those first two weeks with your baby back, so enjoy them and let your professionals work for you. Instead of stressing over when you’ll get that phone call, focus on bonding with your little one and spending time in the state that will always be part of your story.

“Looking back, I so treasure the 8 days we had together…just the three of us, getting to know our new life together snuggled into a tiny, cozy AirBnB with the Michigan winter blowing wildly outside. My whole body warms when I think about that time together.”

If your relationship allows, use this extra time in your new baby's home state to strengthen your relationship with your baby’s birth family. Who knows when you’ll see each other again, so make it a point to spend time together during your extended stay. You can also use this time to learn about the surrounding area and collect some things to bring home so your kiddo will have them to cherish one day.

Find a special holiday ornament to put up each year.

Head to the bookstore and pick up some children’s books that are unique to their home city or state.

Buy a poster or piece of art you can frame for them.

Bring home a trinket or photo for their nursery.

Explore the city and take lots of photos to remember this time and share with your child as they grow up

We recommend finding a short-term rental for your stay, as opposed to a hotel, if possible. Oftentimes AirBnB or VRBO rentals have more flexible cancellation policies than hotels, so you can check out early if your ICPC approval comes sooner. Lean on your adoption professional for guidance. They have a wealth of knowledge and often have great recommendations for where to stay, what to do while you’re there, and great restaurants to check out!

With the guidance of your adoption professionals, patience, and these additional reminders, the ICPC process should be an enjoyable bonding experience with your growing family.

You’re required to stay in that state, but that doesn’t mean you can’t move to a different city within that State. Maybe you have friends or family in a different part of the State you can stay with? This is a great time to let people take care of you!

 with different requirements and a different time frame. What one state requires, another may not. One state may take 24 hours to review your packet, while another may take a week. Some states accept digital ICPC packets, while others don’t…so expect an extra day or two for FedEx.

An ICPC packet can’t be submitted until a) the baby has been discharged from the hospital, and b) consents have been signed. So if the sweet little babe needs some extra time in the NICU, you’ll be in that state for a little while longer. This is also important to remember in states that have longer consent periods (which is a good thing!). For example, in Louisiana, an expectant mom can only sign a consent to adoption 3 days after birth…which means the ICPC process can’t start until after those 3 days are up.

The ICPC process is time-consuming for even the most seasoned adoption professionals…and it should be! Attention to detail is key and rushing through the process can cause unnecessary delays. Assembling a complete ICPC packet can take hours, and most professionals and their team will work late making sure it’s submitted as quickly as possible. Completed packets require multiple copies and hefty FedEx bills.

Let your professionals work for you…they want you to get home almost as badly as you do, so trust that they are doing their very best work.

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If you’re considering adopting a child from another state, you have probably heard the term ‘ICPC process’ or noticed an additional ‘ICPC Fee’ in your contract or fee agreement with your adoption agency or adoption attorney. You’ve probably been told you’ll need to plan on spending two weeks in a different state, but do you know why?

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