Adoption Agencies in Illinios

If you are a pregnant woman or birth mother please click here to see information that is geared to your needs. 

If you are an adopting family we believe you will find the information below helpful. We begin by giving you information regarding child adoption law in Illinois (some of what you can and can't do) and then provide you with information on children available for adoption in Illinois.  We then relate how we can assist you during the adoption process, and finally we provide a list of licensed XXX adoption agencies through which you can browse for additional information.

Before starting to search for a child to adopt or an agency to assist you, it is important that you understand how the adoption laws in Illinois may affect your decisions. Making informed decisions is the best way of increasing your chances of adopting a child.  By way of example, we have listed below a few of the important parts of Illinois child adoption law including such topics as advertising, adoption expenses, and the critical issue of ending the biological parental rights (called a Consent, Relinquishment or Surrender).

State Regulation of Adoption Expenses
Birth Parent Expenses Allowed
Citation: 720 ILCS 525/4; 4.1

Reasonable living expenses, including lodging, clothing, and food, where need is demonstrated
Reasonable and actual medical and hospital charges
Reasonable attorney's fees, with permission from the court

Birth Parent Expenses Not Allowed
Citation: 720 ILCS 525/4.1(a)

'Reasonable living expenses' does not include lost wages, gifts, educational expenses, or other similar expenses.
Payment of living expenses shall not extend beyond 30 days after the birth of the child.

Allowable Payments for Arranging Adoption
Citation: 720 ILCS 525/1

No person or organization, except a child welfare agency, shall request or accept any compensation for placing a child.

Allowable Payments for Relinquishing Child
Citation: 720 ILCS 525/4.1(d)

Payment of living expenses shall not obligate birth parents to place the child for adoption.
Petitioners shall have no right to seek reimbursement in the event that the birth parents choose not to place the child for adoption.

Accounting of Expenses Required by Court
Citation: 720 ILCS 525/4.1(e); 750 ILCS 50/14(a)

Petitioners must file an accounting of all living expenses paid to the biological parents.
The accounting shall include vouchers for all expenditures, receipts for all cash payments, and copies of all checks written.
Each party involved must file an affidavit of all hospital and medical costs, legal and counseling fees, and other expenditures.

Consent to Adoption
Who Must Consent to an Adoption
Citation: Cons. Stat. Ch. 750 § 50/8(b)

Consent is required of the following persons:
The mother
The father if the father:
Was married to the mother on the date of birth of the child or within 300 days before the birth of the child
Is the father by adoption, an order of parentage, or an acknowledgment of parentage or paternity
Openly lived with the child, the child's biological mother, or both, and held himself out to be the child's biological father
Made a good faith effort to pay a reasonable amount of the expenses related to the birth of the child and to provide a reasonable amount for the financial support of the child
Has maintained substantial and continuous or repeated contact with the child
Has registered in a timely manner with the Putative Father Registry
The legal guardian of the person of the child, if there is no surviving parent
An agency, if the child has been surrendered for adoption to such agency
Any person or agency having legal custody of a child by court order, if the parental rights of the parents have been terminated

Age When Consent of Adoptee is Considered or Required
Citation: Comp. Stat. Ch. 750 § 50/12

A child age 14 or older must consent. The court may waive consent if child is in need of mental treatment or is mentally retarded.

When Parental Consent is not Needed
Citation: Comp. Stat. Ch. 750 § 50/8(a)

Consent is not required when the person whose consent or surrender would otherwise be required shall be found by the court:
To be an unfit person
Not to be the biological or adoptive father of the child
To have waived his or her parental rights to the child
To be the parent of an adult sought to be adopted
To be the father of the child as a result of criminal sexual abuse or assault
To be the father of a child who:
Is a family member of the mother of the child, and the mother is under age of 18 at the time of the child's conception
Is at least 5 years older than the child's mother, and the mother was under age 17 at the time of the child's conception, unless the mother and father voluntarily acknowledge the father's paternity of the child by marrying or by establishing the father's paternity

When Consent Can Be Executed
Citation: Comp. Stat. Ch. 750 § 50/9

The mother's consent shall not be taken less than 72 hours after the child's birth. A father may consent before or after the birth of the child.
Consent may be given to a standby adoption by a terminally ill parent, to become effective when the parent dies or requests finalization.

Revocation of Consent
Citation: Comp. Stat. Ch. 750 §§ 50/11; 50/9

A consent to adoption by a parent, including a minor, shall be irrevocable unless it was obtained by fraud or duress. No action to void or revoke a consent, including an action based on fraud or duress, may be commenced after 12 months from the date the consent was executed.

The consent or surrender of a parent who is a minor shall not be voidable because of such minority.

If the father consents before the birth of the child, such consent may be revoked within 72 hours after the birth.

Rights of Presumed (Putative) Fathers
Registry/Paternity Requirements to Receive Notice
Citation: 750 ILCS 50/12.1(b)

The putative father may register before the birth of the child, but no later than 30 days after the child's birth.
The registration must be in writing and signed by the putative father.

Please visit adoption law in Illinois for more details.

Yes, through both public and private adoption agencies.  For example, in 2004, Illinois had 3.505 children in the welfare system waiting to be adopted of whom 27 were under the age of 1 year, and 1,043 were between ages 1-5 years old. The actual number of children adopted through Illinois public child welfare agencies was 2,227, which represents only a small portion of the total number of all Illinois adoptions (exact numbers are not available at this time). 

Remember that while you may be a resident of Illinois, you are not limited to adopting a child from Illinois.  You can adopt a child born in Illinois, a child born in any other U.S. state, or even a foreign born child.  What is important for you to understand is that infants and children are available for adoption in Illinois, in each of the other the 49 states, and in many foreign countries.

Yes, we can help you and so can any licensed child adoption agency (we have listed several below).  By way of introduction to Adoption Services, Inc, I will relate to you a little about myself and our child adoption agency.

Almost 40 years ago I (Dr. Vince Berger) began working as a psychologist with pregnant teens in the Pittsburgh city school system. It was very challenging because in those days there were very few services for these young women, society was not yet accepting of unmarried and/or pregnant teens, and the word "adoption" was hardly ever used.

I loved the work I was doing and knowing that I was personally able to help so many of the pregnant women I was working with. But something was missing - I did not feel I was helping people enough. So, I set out to provide the personal and professional care that a birth mother and adopting family need and deserve in the adoption process.

I started a full service, non-profit adoption agency. Not just any agency, but one that was, and still is, dedicated to helping birth parents and adopting families receive the best and most comprehensive of adoption related services. Over the past 20 years, my staff and I have helped over 9,000 adopting families, birth parents, their babies and children.

I love helping people. I work 6 days a week and answer calls at all hours. The hours I put in are long but never hard, since I find so much joy and strength in helping others.

My goal continues to be to help you. Accordingly, in addition to the website you are on now and the Adoption Services website, we created Adopting Family Resources and International Adoption Help as well as Child Adoption Laws and Child Adoption Resources and Pregnancy And Children to give you a information and help.

I hope that you will call me or my staff so we can help you in the adoption process. However, if you don't want to call us, then please review the agencies listed here and give one of them a call. Do not give up until you get the help and attention you need and deserve.

Thank you for letting us help, and good luck.

Dr. Berger
and the staff of Adoption Services

Adoption-Link, Inc.
1113 South Boulevard
Oak Park, IL 60302
Phone: (708) 524-1433
Fax: (708) 524-9691

Aurora Catholic Charities
1700 North Farnsworth Avenue
Suite 18
Aurora, IL 60505
Phone: (630) 820-3220

Bethany Christian Services of Illinois
11717 South Halsted Street
Chicago, IL 60628-5822
Phone: (773) 264-0200
Fax: (773) 233-7617

Catholic Charities, Chicago Archdiocese
651 West Lake
Chicago, IL 60661
Phone: (312) 655-7071
Phone: (312) 454-1717
Toll-Free: (800) CARE-002

Catholic Charities, Joliet Diocese
203 North Ottawa Street
2nd Floor, Suite A
Joliet, IL 60432
Phone: (815) 723-3053
Fax: (815) 723-2853
Toll-Free: (877) 844-4673

Catholic Charities, Peoria Diocese
413 NE Monroe
Peoria, IL 61603
Phone: (309) 671-5720
Fax: (309) 671-0257

Catholic Charities, Springfield Diocese
800 South Fifth Street
Springfield, IL 62703
Phone: (217) 523-9201
Fax: (217) 523-5624

Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois
8601 West Main Street
Suite 201
Belleville, IL 62223
Phone: (618) 394-5900
Fax: (618) 394-5909
Toll-Free: (800) 997-9702

Center for Family Building, Inc. (CFB)
8707 Skokie Boulevard
Suite 208
Skokie, IL 60077
Phone: (847) 869-1518
Fax: (847) 869-4108
Toll-Free: (800) 869-1005 (Birth Mothers)

Chicago Child Care Society
5467 South University Avenue
Chicago, IL 60615
Phone: (773) 643-0452

Children's Home and Aid Society of Illinois
Rockford, IL 61104
Phone: (815) 962-1043
Fax: (815) 962-1272
Toll-Free: (888) 248-4335

Children's Home and Aid Society of Illinois (CHASI)
125 South Wacker Drive
14th Floor
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: (312) 424-0200
Fax: (312) 424-6800

Children's Home and Aid Society of Illinois (CHASI)
2133 Johnson Road
Suite 104
Granite City , IL 62040
Phone: (618) 452-8900

Children's Hope International (CHI)
1400 East Touhy Suite 409
Des Plaines, IL 60018
Phone: (847) 297-5504

Evangelical Child and Family Agency (ECFA)
1530 North Main Street
Wheaton, IL 60187
Phone: (630) 653-6400
Fax: (630) 653-6490
TDD: (630) 653-0180
Toll-Free: (800) 945-6379

Family Counseling Clinic, Inc.
505 East Hawley Street
Suite 100
Mundlein, IL 60060
Phone: (847) 566-7121
Fax: (847) 566-7310

Family Resource Center (FRC)
5828 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60660
Phone: (773) 334-2300
Fax: (773) 334-8228
Toll-Free: (800) 676-2229

Illinois Baptist Children's Home & Family Services
4243 Lincolnshire Drive
Mt. Vernon, IL 62864
Phone: (618) 242-4944
Fax: (618) 242-2568
Toll-Free: (800) 458-2229

Jewish Children's Bureau of Chicago
3145 West Pratt Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60645
Phone: (773) 467-3747

Journeys of the Heart Adoption Services
PO Box 28
Glen Ellyn, IL 60138
Phone: (630) 469-4367
Fax: (630) 469-4382

Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI)
3000 West Rohmann Avenue
West Peoria, IL 61604
Phone: (309) 671-0300
Fax: (309) 671-0503
Toll-Free: (888) 671-0300

Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI)
1001 East Touhy Avenue
Suite 50
Des Plaines, IL 60018
Phone: (847) 635-4600
Fax: (847) 390-1453
Toll-Free: (888) 671-0300

Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, Chicago South Office
11740 South Western Avenue
Chicago, IL 60643
Phone: (773) 371-2700
Fax: (773) 239-5296

New Life Social Services
6316 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60659
Phone: (773) 478-4773
Fax: (773) 478-7646

St. Mary's Services
717 West Kirchoff Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
Phone: (847) 870-8181
Fax: (847) 870-8324
Toll-Free: (800) 252-4152

Sunny Ridge Family Center, Inc.
2 South 426 Orchard Road
Wheaton, IL 60187
Phone: (630) 668-5117
Fax: (630) 668-5144
Toll-Free: (800) 222-9666

The Baby Fold (TBF)
612 Oglesby Avenue
Normal, IL 61761
Phone: (309) 454-1770
Fax: (309) 454-9257

Volunteers of America of Illinois
224 N. Desplaines Street
Suite 500
Chicago, IL 60661
Phone: (312) 707-9477

Volunteers of America of Illinois
7707 West Main Street, Suite 14
Belleville, IL 62223-2030
Phone: (618) 271-9833