Adoption Agencies in Maine

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 Maine (some of what you can and can't do) and then provide you with information on children available for adoption in Maine.  We then relate how we can assist you during the adoption process, and finally we provide a list of licensed Maine 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 Maine 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 Maine 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).

Use of Advertising in Adoptive Placements
Use of Advertisement
Citation: Rev. Stat. Tit. 18-A, § 9-313

Advertising for adoption services or soliciting adoptions is prohibited, except that licensed child-placing agencies may advertise in accordance with rules adopted by the department.

State Regulation of Adoption Expenses
Birth Parent Expenses Allowed
Citation: Tit. 18-A, § 9-306(a)

Actual cost of legal services related to consent
Prenatal and postnatal counseling
Prenatal, postnatal, and birthing medical costs for the mother
Transportation to the services that are permitted
Foster care for the child
Reasonable living expenses for the birth mother and the child
Counseling and legal fees for the birth father
Fees to the placing agency

Birth Parent Expenses Not Allowed
Citation: Tit.18-A, § 9-306(c)

Other expenses or payments to the birth parents are not authorized.

Allowable Payments for Relinquishing Child
Citation: Tit.18-A, § 9-306(c)

Payments for allowable expenses may not be contingent upon any future decision a birth parent may make pertaining to the child.

Accounting of Expenses Required by Court
Citation: Tit. 18-A, § 9-306(b)

The petitioner shall file a full accounting of all disbursements made or agreed to be made in connection with the adoption.
The accounting must be signed under penalty of perjury and itemized.

Consent to Adoption
Who Must Consent to an Adoption
Citation: Rev. Stat. Tit. 18-A, § 9-302

Written consent to the adoption must be given by:
Each living parent
The person or agency having legal custody or guardianship of the child
A guardian appointed by the court, when the child has no living parent, guardian, or legal custodian who may consent

Age When Consent of Adoptee is Considered or Required
Citation: Rev. Stat. Tit. 18-A, § 9-302

Written consent to the adoption must be given by the adopted person if he or she is age 14 or older.

When Parental Consent is not Needed
Citation: Rev. Stat. Tit. 18-A, § 9-302

Consent to adoption is not required of:
A putative father or a legal father who is not the biological father if he:
Received notice and failed to respond to the notice within the prescribed time period
Waived his right to notice under § 9-201(c)
Failed to meet the standards of § 9-201(i)
Holds no parental rights regarding the child under the laws of the foreign jurisdiction in which the child was born
A parent whose parental rights have been terminated
A parent who has executed a surrender and release pursuant to § 9-202
A parent whose parental rights have been voluntarily or judicially terminated and transferred to a public agency or a duly licensed private agency pursuant to the laws of another State or country
The parent of an adopted person who is age 18 or older
The agency to whom the child has been surrendered and released if that the person's or agency's lack of consent is found to be unreasonable by a judge of probate

When Consent Can Be Executed
Citation: Rev. Stat. Tit. 18-A, §§ 9-202; 9-302

Consent can be executed any time after the child's birth.
A petition for adoption must be pending before consent is executed.

Revocation of Consent
Citation: Rev. Stat. Tit. 18-A, § 9-202

A consent or release will not be valid until 3 days after if has been executed. Except as noted below, a consent or a surrender and release is then final and irrevocable when duly executed.
A consent is final only for the adoption consented to, and, if that adoption petition is withdrawn or dismissed or if the adoption is not finalized within 18 months of the execution of the consent, a review must be held pursuant to § 9-205.

Rights of Presumed (Putative) Fathers
Registry/Paternity Requirements to Receive Notice
Citation: Tit. 18-A, § 9-201(d)

The putative father may file within 20 days after notice of adoption is given, or within a longer period of time as ordered by the judge.

Please visit adoption law in Maine for more details.

Yes, through both public and private adoption agencies.  For example, in 2004, Maine had 850 children in the welfare system waiting to be adopted of whom 6 were under the age of 1 year, and 253 were between ages 1-5 years old. The actual number of children adopted through Maine public child welfare agencies was only 307, which represents only a small portion of the total number of all Maine adoptions (exact numbers are not available at this time). 

Remember that while you may be a resident of Maine, you are not limited to adopting a child from Maine.  You can adopt a child born in Maine, 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 Maine, 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

Families and Children Together (F.A.C.T)
304 Hancock Street
Suite 2B
Bangor, ME 04401
Phone: (207) 941-2347
Fax: (207) 990-3316

Good Samaritan Agency
100 Ridgewood Drive
Bangor, ME 04401
Phone: (207) 942-7211
Fax: (207) 990-0851
Toll-Free: (800) 249-1811

International Adoption Services Centre, Inc. (IASC)
PO Box 56
432 Water Street
Gardiner, ME 04345
Phone: (207) 582-8842
Fax: (207) 582-9027
Toll-Free: (888) 682-3678

Maine Adoption Placement Service (MAPS)
181 State Street
Bangor, ME 04401
Phone: (207) 941-9500
Fax: (207) 941-8942

Maine Adoption Placement Service (MAPS)
PO Box 772, 58 Pleasant St.
Houlton, ME 04730
Phone: (207) 532-9358
Fax: (207) 532-4122

Maine Children's Home for Little Wanderers
93 Silver Street
Waterville, ME 04901
Phone: (207) 873-6350
Fax: (207) 872-7548

SMART Child and Family Services
PO Box 1360
86 Tandberg Trail
Windham, ME 04062
Phone: (207) 893-0386
Fax: (207) 893-2086