Adoption Support Groups in New Hampshire
For Adopting Families

Among the most common things you, as an adopting family, may be looking for is information on "how to adopt a child" whether to use an adoption facilitator, whether to engage in a private adoption or adoption agency, the limitations and requirements for adoption, what to consider in selecting an adoption agency, where to find licensed adoption agencies in New Hampshire, and the laws relating to what you can and cannot do when adopting a child in New Hampshire.

Understanding the child adoption laws in New Hampshire can greatly increase your chances of successfully adopting a child. Important legal concerns include the giving of support or gifts to a birth mother or birth father, fees paid to an adoption agency, attorney, or other intermediary, the legality of using an adoption facilitator, the legal rights of the birth parents and the adopting family, and the critical issues of a disruption and the ending the biological parental rights (called a Consent, Relinquishment or Surrender).  For example, using our most recent update, in New Hampshire:

*Use of Advertising in Adoptive Placements:  No person who is required to obtain a license or permit under this subdivision may advertise or cause to be published an advertisement soliciting or offering a child for placement unless the person has obtained the requisite license or permit.

*Allowable birth parent expenses include:  Reasonable counseling, medical, and legal fees, that shall be paid directly to the provider of the services; reasonable expenses for transportation, lodging, clothing, and meals incurred for the placement of the minor; reasonable living expenses of the birth mother to maintain an adequate standard of living when the mother is unable to due to loss of wages caused by the pregnancy or delivery; and reasonable expenses for adoption services, that shall be paid directly to the agency.

*Reasonable expenses shall not include: Gifts over $50, educational expenses, living expenses beyond 6 weeks following delivery, and other payments for the monetary gain of the birth parent.

*No surrender shall be taken until a passage of a minimum of 72 hours after the birth of the child.

*Revocation of Consent:  A parent wishing to withdraw a surrender shall notify the court in writing where the surrender was taken. Notification shall be prior to the entry of the final decree. A surrender may not be withdrawn after the entry of the final decree of adoption for any reason.

You may be looking for the differences in the waiting period, effort, cost, and success rates involved in adopting children within your state or in other states (domestic adoption) or even from other countries (international adoption) in order to determine which type of adoption will work for you.  Some specific choices you may want to consider, as the waiting lists tend to be shorter, are special needs adoption, bi-racial and trans-racial adoption, and older children (generally from one to 15 years of age) from the New Hampshire child welfare and foster care systems. The more open you are in the type and age of child you are looking to adopt the better your chances of success. You should also decide before contacting an adoption agency whether you want an open adoption or closed adoption.

In addition to the adoption support groups shown below, there are many sources of help available to you in New Hampshire. For example, we are always happy to take your calls and offer you help and information (contact us). There are local and private as well as state and federal government resources that can provide financial and medical information and help.  New Hampshire also has the New Hampshire adoption exchange or photo listing program and an New Hampshire adoption contact office.

You may also be looking for information on special problems in raising an adopted child and being the best possible parent you can be. This may include explaining adoption to your child, family, friends and others. It could also include dealing with special emotional and developmental issues, or adoption and school problems, or issues involving adoption therapy and finding a therapist who specializes in working with adopted children and their families. Then again you may be looking for information on infant nutrition or birth records or one of a myriad of other questions.

If you are specifically interested in an international adoption support group, you may want to visit the support groups for Russian adoption, as well as the groups for Guatemala adoption and China adoption.

American Adoption Congress is composed of individuals, families and organizations committed to adoption reform.

Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption (FRUA) is for families who have adopted, or are in the process of adoption, from Russia and former Soviet Union countries.

Families with Children from China is a non-denominational organization of families who have adopted children from China.

Guatemala Adoptive Families Network initiates and supports the adoption of Guatemalan children.

National Adoption Center attempts to facilitate the adoption of children in the U. S., particularly children with special needs and those from minority cultures.

North American Council on Adoptable Children is committed to meeting the needs of waiting children and the families who adopt them.

Our Chinese Daughters Foundation (OCDF) is a non-profit foundation that supports families with children adopted from China.

Resolve is dedicated to providing education, advocacy, and support to those who face infertility.

The Child Welfare Information Gateway provides information on all aspects of both domestic and international adoption.