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

Understanding the child adoption laws in Indiana 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 Indiana:

*Birth parent expenses allowed include:
Reasonable attorney fees and expenses for counseling; hospital and medical costs, travel expenses and maternity clothes; living expenses, including housing, utilities, and phone service, during the 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy, not to continue for more than 6 weeks after the child's birth.
Lost wages if leaving a job is made necessary by medical complications of the pregnancy.
Any additional living expenses, as approved by the court, but not in excess of $1,000.
Total expenses paid shall not exceed $3,000 unless approved by the court.  Payment of living expenses shall not extend beyond 6 weeks after the child's birth.

*All fees and expenses paid must be disclosed to the court supervising the adoption.

*The consent to adoption may be executed at any time after the birth of the child. The child's mother may not execute a consent to adoption before the birth of the child.  The child's father may execute a consent to adoption before the birth of the child if the consent to adoption.

*Revocation of Consent:  A child's father who consents to the adoption of the child prior to the child's birth may not challenge or contest the child's adoption.  A consent to adoption may be withdrawn no later than 30 days after consent to adoption is signed, if the court finds that the person seeking the withdrawal is acting in the best interest of the person sought to be adopted.

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

Adoption Support Center, Inc.
6331 Carrollton Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46220
Phone: (317) 255-5916
Toll-Free: (800) 274-1084

Black Adoptive Parents Together
2511 E. 46th St., Suite M
Indianapolis, IN 46205-2452
Phone: 317-542-5281

Indiana Foster Care and Adoption Association
509 East National
Suite A
Indianapolis, IN 46227
Phone: (317) 524-2600
Toll-Free: (800) 468-4228

Indiana Youth Advocate Program (IYAP)
4755 Kingsway Drive
Suite 314
Indianapolis, IN 46205
Phone: (317) 475-9294
Toll-Free: (800) 471-4795

IYAP Adoptive Parent Support Group
4755 Kingsway Dr., #314
Indianapolis, IN 46205
Phone: 317-475-9294

Together, Attached, and Loved for Keeps
5650 Caito Dr
Indianapolis, IN 46226
Phone: 317-568-1000

Transracial Adoption Support Group
621 E. State Rd 64, PO Box 157
English, IN 47118
Phone: 812-338-2115

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