Adoption Support Groups in Louisiana
For Adopting Families

If you are a pregnant woman please visit pregnancy support groups.

If you are a birth mother please visit adoption support groups for birth mothers in Louisiana.

If you are an adopting family looking for support groups in Louisiana you are in the right place.

We understand there are many reasons that you may be looking for support groups. To better assist you and make sure your questions and concerns are addressed, in addition to listing the adoption support groups for Louisiana listed at the bottom of the page, we have provided additional resource information that we feel you may be looking for.  To find more information on these subjects, simply click the blue links.

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 Louisiana, and the laws relating to what you can and cannot do when adopting a child in Louisiana.

Understanding the child adoption laws in Louisiana 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 Louisiana:

*Use of Advertising and Facilitators in Adoptive Placements:  It shall be unlawful for any person other than a licensed child-placing agency or a Louisiana-based crisis pregnancy center to advertise through print or electronic media that it will adopt children or assist in the adoption of children.

*Birth Parent expenses allowed include reasonable medical and hospital costs of the birth mother, including pharmaceutical, travel, or other similar expenses; living expenses of the birth mother; medical, hospital, and foster care expenses of the child; and reasonable expenses for counseling and training services and attorney fees and court costs.  Payment for the birth mother's living expenses may not extend beyond 45 days after the birth.

* No act of surrender by a mother shall be executed earlier than 5 days following the birth of the child.  A father may execute an act of surrender prior to the birth of the child or at any time after the birth. However, any surrender executed by a father earlier than the 5th day following the birth of the child shall not be irrevocable until the 5th day following the birth of the child.  An alleged or adjudicated father may execute an act of surrender prior to the birth of the child or at any time after the birth. His surrender shall be irrevocable upon execution.

*Consent is irrevocable upon execution.  No act of surrender shall be subject to annulment except upon proof of duress or fraud.

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

Allen Parish Foster & Adoptive Parent Association
353 C-Victorian Rd
Oberlin, LA 70655
Phone: 337-639-2659

Ascension Foster & Adoptive Parent Association
PO Box 305
Donaldsonville, LA 70346
Phone: 225-473-8707

Calcasieu-Cameron Foster & Adoptive Parent Association
136 Beauregard Ave
Sulphur, LA 70663
Phone: 337-625-1011

Cenla Foster & Adoptive Parent Association
2527 Avenue C
Alexandria, LA 71301
Phone: 318-561-2412/318-445-5678

Concordia Foster Parent Association
PO Box 1761
Ferriday, LA 71334
Phone: 318-757-0535/318-757-8632

F.A.I.R. Visions, Inc. (Foster Adoptive Information and Resource)
610 South 16th Street
Monroe, LA 71202
Phone: (318) 340-0230

Institute for Black Parenting (IBP)
3501 N. Causeway Blvd. Suite # 320
Metairie, La. 70002
Phone: (504) 839-7456

Louisiana Foster & Adoptive Parent Association
PO Box 332
Baton Rouge, LA 70821
Phone: (337) 582-6900

Louisiana Foster/Adoptive Parents Association
10139 Seawood St.
New Orleans, LA 70127
Phone: 504-248-2005/318-472-8701

New Orleans Support Group
1500 Deslonde St
New Orleans, LA 70117
Phone: 504-944-8126/504-680-3050

Northwest Foster Parent Association
PO Box 515
Plain Dealing, LA 71064
Phone: 318-326-4731

Ouachita Parish Foster & Adoptive Parent Association
3000 Gordon Ave
Monroe, LA 71202
Phone: 318-340-0138

Pride & Hope Ministry Adoptive Parent Support Group
31298 Jerry Moses Rd
Angie, LA 70426
Phone: 985-986-2808

Region IX Foster & Adoptive Care Association
37245 Highway 10
Franklinton, LA 70438

River Area Foster & Adoptive Parent Association
2141 Colonial Dr
LaPlace, LA 70068
Phone: 985-653-8737

St. Tammany Foster & Adoptive Parent Association
PO Box 964
Covington, LA 70433
Phone: 985-898-0533

Tri-Parish Foster & Adoptive Parent Association
46285 Durbist
Tickfaw, LA 70466
Phone: 225-567-6520

United Central Foster & Adoptive Association
1505 Segura Rd
New Iberia, LA 70560
Phone: 337-365-9017

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