Adoption Support Groups in Connecticut
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 Connecticut, and the laws relating to what you can and cannot do when adopting a child in Connecticut.

Understanding the child adoption laws in Connecticut 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 Connecticut:

*Any birth parent may advertise through any public media in this State for the placement of his or her child for the purposes of adoption.  Any prospective adoptive parent may advertise through any public media in this State for placement of a child into his or her care for the purpose of adoption.

*Allowable adoption expenses include:
Counseling for the birth mother, including transportation
Birth mother's living expenses, reasonable telephone costs and reasonable maternity clothing expenses
Payment to the birth mother for living expenses shall not exceed $1,500, unless approved in unusual circumstances by the court.

*No consent to termination by a mother shall be executed within 48 hours immediately after the birth of her child.

*Revocation of Consent: The court may grant a motion to open or set aside a judgment terminating parental rights or may grant a petition for a new trial on the issue of the termination of parental rights, provided the court shall consider the best interest of the child. No such motion or petition may be granted if a final decree of adoption has been issued prior to the filing of any such motion or petition.

*Any person claiming to be the father may file at any time, but no later than 60 days after the date of notice of termination proceedings.

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 Connecticut 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 Connecticut. 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.  Connecticut also has the Connecticut adoption exchange or photo listing program and an Connecticut 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.

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.

Adoptive Family Support Group
2 Union Plaza
Suite 300
New London, CT 06320
Phone: (860) 444-0553

Attachment Disorder Parents Network of Connecticut
85 Westwood Avenue
Plainville, CT 06062
Phone: (860) 669-2750

Connecticut Association of Foster and Adoptive Parents, Inc. (CAFAP)
2189 Silas Deane Highway
Suite 2
Rocky Hill, CT 06067
Phone: (860) 258-3400
Toll-Free: (800) 861-8838

Connecticut Association of Foster and Adoptive Parents
2189 Silas Deane Hwy.
Rocky Hill, CT 06067
Phone: 203-335-2277/860-258-3400/800-861-8838

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