Explanation of Services
Preliminary Application
Full Service Adoptions:
If you are interested in adoption and are curious about New Life, your first step is to complete and submit our Preliminary Application(pdf). Once submitted and reviewed, if approved, you will be notified and invited to attend our next Information Meeting.
Limited Service Adoptions:
If you are interested in working with us for any part of the adoption process, your first step is to complete and submit our Preliminary Application(pdf). Once submitted and reviewed, if approved, our Adoption Unit Supervisor or Director of Social Services will contact you to discuss next steps.
Information Meeting
At the Information Meeting, you will learn more about New Life's history, our adoption process, legal information concerning birth parents rights, and much more. Upon attending the Information Meeting, you will receive our Formal Adoption Application. You have one year to complete and submit the application to us. If a year lapses and you have not submitted the Formal Adoption Application, prior to continuing forward in the adoption process, you will be required to attend another Information Meeting to learn of any changes that have occurred in the past year.
Formal Adoption Application
As stated above, families have one year to complete and submit the Formal Adoption Application. Once submitted and reviewed, if approved, you will receive a letter indicating that your application was approved. In addition to the letter, you will receive a financial contract outlining the services to be rendered and the respective fees. Upon receipt of your signed contract and your initial payment of $1,500 (the Formal Acceptance Fee), a social worker who has been assigned to you will contact you to schedule your first adoption study meeting.
Home Study Process (also referred to as the Adoption Study)
The home study process at New Life involves a minimum of five meetings and takes an average of four months to complete. A licensed social worker will contact you to schedule your first adoption study meeting. The first and fourth meetings take place at New Life's office, and both husband and wife must be present, along with your social worker. The second and third meetings, also held at New Life, are individual meetings with each spouse and your social worker. The final meeting is held in your home, again with both husband and wife present, along with your social worker.
Prior to the first adoption study meeting, families are required to read of one our four required adoption study books. Upon approval of the adoption study, you will receive a letter from New Life indicating that your adoption study was approved, at which time you will be billed for the adoption study service. Upon payment of the adoption study fee, you are officially moved to "the pool" of waiting families.
Waiting Process – Being Considered by Birth Parents
The waiting stage is a time to start preparing to become parents or preparing to parent an additional child. After you have been added to the pool of waiting families, you will have on-going contact with your social worker as potential birth parents request to view adoptive family profiles, called a Request for Summaries (RFS). The adoption social workers receive an RFS from the pregnancy support social workers when a birth mother (and sometimes birth father) is making an adoption plan and would like to look at profiles of families she may choose to parent her child. You will be presented with this RFS and will have the option of deciding whether or not you would like your profile to be shown to the birth mother. If your profile is shown to the birth mother, the possibility exists that you may be chosen by that birth mother. Most birth parents desire to meet the prospective adoptive family they have chosen.
Placement
As a birth mother continues to receive on-going decision-making counseling, she may choose to set up a face-to-face meeting with you, the prospective adoptive family. If a birth parent chooses to meet you, your social worker will help you prepare for this meeting. At this meeting, the following parties are present: the birth mother and her social worker, and you (the adoptive couple) along with your social worker. Depending upon the situation, the birth father and/or other members of the birth family may also be present.
After the face-to-face meeting, the birth mother will develop a plan for the hospital time and any future contact with you, the adoptive family. After the baby is born, the amount of time that you spend at the hospital depends on the birth mother's hospital plan. Regardless of the birth mother's hospital plan, however, you will be present at the hospital for the baby's discharge, along with your social worker. This time (from the moment you leave the hospital with the child and prior to finalization) is called a fos/adopt (foster adopt) placement.
At times, a birth parent does not make an adoption plan until after the birth of the child. In these situations, New Life will provide interim care for the baby until an adoption plan can be made. If you are adopting a child after the child has been in interim care or parented by the birth parent for any length of time, New Life requires a transition plan for that child. Your social worker will work closely with you and the interim care giver(s) to ensure that the transition of the child is as smooth and seamless as possible.
Supervision
Minnesota adoption law requires all adoption agencies to supervise an adoption placement for 90 days after the child is placed in your home. During this time, your social worker will come to your house for a minimum of two visits. These visits are to ensure that the baby is developing normally and he/she is bonding and attaching to you.
Finalization
After the 90 day supervision period has ended and New Life Family Services approves the placement, you may petition to finalize the adoption in your county's juvenile court. New Life will assist you in preparing for this hearing and will send all the necessary paperwork directly to the court. At the finalization hearing, a judge legalizes the adoption.
Home Studies for Embryo Adoption
New Life works in collaboration with Snowflake Embryo Adoption Program, a division of NIGHTLIGHT Christian Adoptions in California, to provide home studies for prospective adoptive families seeking to adopt embryos for implantation. The home study process is very similar to the process for couples seeking traditional adoption services; however, your social worker will focus on the uniqueness of embryo adoption. Prospective adoptive parents are chosen by birth parents in much the same way as in a traditional open adoption and can expect face-to-face meetings and on-going contact.
