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

Understanding the child adoption laws in Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts:

*Use of Advertisement:  No person shall cause to be published in a newspaper or to be broadcast on a radio or television station in the Commonwealth an advertisement or notice for the placement or reception of a child under 16 years of age for adoption unless such advertisement is placed by a licensed or approved placement agency, or with the written approval of the office.

*Use of Intermediaries/Facilitators:  No person shall place or knowingly facilitate the placement of any child in the care or control of any other person not related to such child by blood or marriage, or in the care or control of any organization other than a licensed or approved placement agency, for purposes of adoption.

*Written consent shall be executed no sooner than the 4th day after the birth of the child.

*A consent executed in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be final and irrevocable from the date of execution.

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 Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts. 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.  Massachusetts also has the Massachusetts adoption exchange or photo listing program and an Massachusetts 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 Community of New England, Inc.
Granite State Chapter
45 Lyman Street #2
Westborough, MA 01581
Phone: (508) 366-6812
Toll-Free: (800) 93ADOPT

Adoption Education and Support First Connections
111 Old Road to 9 Acre Corner {ORNAC}
Concord, MA 01742
Phone: (978) 287-0221

Adoption Resource Center
350 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02141
Phone: (617) 547-0909
Toll-Free: (800) 546-6328

Adoptive Families Together/MSPCC
Act of Love Adoptions
99 Summer Street
Boston, MA 02210
Phone: (617) 587-1563

Adoptive Parents Committee (APC)
Phone: (617) 929-3800

Alliance for Children, Inc.
55 William Street
Suite G10
Wellesley, MA 02481
Phone: (781) 431-7148

Cambridge Family and Children's Service (CFCS)
60 Gore Street
Cambridge, MA 02141
Phone: (617) 876-4210

Home for Little Wanderers (HLW)
271 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: (617) 267-3700
Toll-Free: (888) 466-3321

Massachusetts Coalition for Adoption, Inc
504 Dudley Street
Roxbury, MA 02119
Phone: (617) 445-6655

Raising Our Children's Children
89 Ruthvn Street
Dorchester, MA 02121
Phone: (617) 541-3561

Single Parents for the Adoption of Children Everywhere (SPACE)
A Chapter of Adoption Community of New England, Inc.
45 Lyman Street #2
Westborough, MA 01581
Phone: (508) 429-4260

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