Adoption Agencies in Oregon

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 Oregon (some of what you can and can't do) and then provide you with information on children available for adoption in Oregon.  We then relate how we can assist you during the adoption process, and finally we provide a list of licensed Oregon 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 Oregon 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 Oregon child adoption law including such topics as advertising, use of an adoption facilitator, adoption expenses, and the critical issue of ending the biological parental rights (called a Consent, Relinquishment or Surrender).

Use of Advertising and Facilitators in Adoptive Placements
Use of Advertisement
Citation: Rev. Stat. § 109.311(4)

It is unlawful for any person to advertise a child offered or wanted for adoption or to advertise that the person is able to place, locate, dispose of, or receive a child for adoption. The provisions of this section do not apply to:
The State Office for Services to Children and Families or licensed Oregon adoption agency or an agent, employee, or person with whom the Office or adoption agency has a contract authorizing such actions
A person who has completed a home study and has received a favorable recommendation regarding the fitness of the person to be an adoptive parent or the person's attorney or uncompensated agent
''Advertise'' means to communicate by newspaper, radio, television, handbills, placards or other print, or broadcast or electronic medium that originates with the State.

Use of Intermediaries/Facilitators
Citation: Rev. Stat. § 109.311(3)

A person may not charge, accept, pay, or offer to pay a fee for locating a minor child for adoption or for locating another person to adopt a minor child, except that Oregon licensed adoption agencies may charge reasonable fees for services provided by them.

State Regulation of Adoption Expenses
Birth Parent Expenses Allowed
Citation: § 109.311(1)

Legal costs
Medical expenses
Living and travel expenses

Birth Parent Expenses Not Allowed
Citation: § 109.311

No charges, except those reported in the disclosure statement, may be paid.

Allowable Payments for Arranging Adoption
Citation: § 109.311(3)

No person shall charge a fee for locating a child for adoption or an adoptive family other than a licensed agency.

Accounting of Expenses Required by Court
Citation: § 109.311(1)

Each petition shall be accompanied by a written disclosure statement itemizing all expenditures paid or estimated to be paid.
The form of the disclosure statement shall be determined by the department.

Consent to Adoption
Who Must Consent to an Adoption
Citation: Ann. Stat. §§ 109.312; 109.314; 109.316

Consent in writing to the adoption of a child shall be given by:
The parents of the child, or the survivor of them
The guardian of the child, if the child has no living parent
The next of kin in this State, if the child has no living parent and no guardian
Some suitable person appointed by the court to act in the proceeding as next friend of the child to give or withhold consent, if the child has no living parent and no guardian or next of kin qualified to consent
If the legal custody of the child has been awarded in marital dissolution proceedings, the written consent of the person to whom custody of the child has been awarded may be held sufficient by the court. However, unless the noncustodial parent consents to the adoption, the petitioner shall serve on the noncustodial parent a summons and a motion and order to show cause why the proposed adoption should not be ordered without the noncustodial parent's consent, and the objections of the noncustodial parent shall be heard if appearance is made.

The Department of Human Services or an approved child-caring agency, acting in loco parentis, may consent to the adoption of a child who has been:

Surrendered to it for the purpose of adoption
Permanently committed to it by order of a court of competent jurisdiction
Surrendered to it for the purpose of adoption by one parent and permanently committed to it by a court of competent jurisdiction having jurisdiction of the other parent

Age When Consent of Adoptee is Considered or Required
Citation: Ann. Stat. § 109.328

If the child is age 14 or older, the adoption shall not be made without the consent of the child.

When Parental Consent is not Needed
Citation: Ann. Stat. §§ 109.322; 109.324; 109.326

An adoption may be granted without the consent of the parent if:
A parent has been adjudged mentally ill or mentally deficient and remains so at the time of the adoption proceedings.
A parent is imprisoned in a State or Federal prison under a sentence for a term of not less than 3 years and has actually served 3 years.
A parent has willfully deserted the child or neglected without just and sufficient cause to provide proper care and maintenance for the child for 1 year immediately prior to the filing of the petition for adoption.
The mother of a child was married at the time of the conception or birth of the child, and it has been determined that her husband at such time was not the father of the child; in this case, consent of the husband is not required.

Revocation of Consent
Citation: Ann. Stat. § 109.312

A person who gives consent to adoption may agree concurrently or subsequently to the giving of such consent that the consent shall be or become irrevocable and may waive such person's right to a personal appearance in court by a duly signed and attested certificate. The certificate of irrevocability and waiver shall be in effect when the following are completed:

The child is placed for the purpose of adoption in the physical custody of the person or persons to whom the consent is given.
The person or persons to whom consent for adoption is given have filed a petition to adopt the child in a court of competent jurisdiction.
The court has entered an order appointing the petitioner or some other suitable person as guardian of the child.
A home study has been filed with the court approving the petitioners as potential adoptive parents.
Information about the child's social, medical, and genetic history has been provided by the person giving consent to the adoption.
The person signing the certificate of irrevocability and waiver has been given an explanation of the consequences of signing the certificate.
Upon the fulfillment of the conditions above, the consent for adoption may not be revoked unless fraud or duress is proved with respect to any material fact.

Consent to the adoption of a child subject to the Indian Child Welfare Act shall not be valid unless the requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (25 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) are met. In accordance with the Indian Child Welfare Act, a certificate of irrevocability is not valid for a child who is subject to the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Rights of Presumed (Putative) Fathers
Registry/Paternity Requirements to Receive Notice
Citation: § 109.096

The putative father must file notice of the initiation of filiation proceedings prior to child's being placed in the physical custody of a person for the purpose of adoption.
If paternity is not established, the putative father is entitled to notice of adoption proceedings if the petitioner knows, or should have known, that:
The child resided with the putative father at any time during 60 days immediately preceding the initiation of the proceeding, or at any time since the child's birth if the child is less than 60 days old when the proceeding is initiated.
The putative father has repeatedly contributed or tried to contribute to the support of the child during the year immediately preceding the initiation of the proceeding, or during the period since the child's birth if the child is less than 1 year old when the proceeding is initiated.
The putative father must file with the Center for Health Statistics of the Health Division of the Department of Human Services.

Please visit adoption law in Oregon for more details.

Yes, through both public and private adoption agencies.  For example, in 2004, Oregon had 2,597 children in the welfare system waiting to be adopted of whom 95 were under the age of 1 year, and 1,170 were between ages 1-5 years old. The actual number of children adopted through Oregon public child welfare agencies was only 943, which represents only a small portion of the total number of all Oregon adoptions (exact numbers are not available at this time). 

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

Boys and Girls Aid Society of Oregon
18 SW Boundary Court
Portland, OR 97239
Phone: (503) 222-9661
Fax: (503) 224-5960
Toll-Free: (800) 932-2734

Catholic Charities, Inc.
447 NE 47th Avenue
Suite 100
Portland, OR 97213-2324
Phone: (503) 238-5196
Fax: (503) 238-0818

Christian Family Adoptions
6040 SE Belmont Street
Portland, OR 97215
Phone: (503) 232-1211
Fax: (503) 232-4756

Journeys of the Heart Adoption Services
PO Box 39
Hillsboro, OR 97123
Phone: (503) 681-3075
Fax: (503) 640-5834

Open Adoption & Family Services, Inc. (OA&FS)
5200 SW Macadam Avenue
Suite 250
Portland, OR 97239
Phone: (503) 226-4870
Fax: (503) 226-4891
Toll-Free: (800) 772-1115

Orphans Overseas
14986 NW Cornell Road
Portland, OR 97229
Phone: (503) 297-2006
Fax: (503) 533-5836

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