Adoption Agencies in District of Columbia

If you are a pregnant woman or birth mother please click here to see information that is geared to your needs.

If you are an adopting family we believe you will find the information below helpful. We begin by giving you information regarding child adoption law in District of Columbia (some of what you can and can't do) and then provide you with information on children available for adoption in District of Columbia.  We then relate how we can assist you during the adoption process, and finally we provide a list of licensed District of Columbia adoption agencies through which you can browse for additional information.

Before starting to search for a child to adopt or an agency to assist you, it is important that you understand how the adoption laws in District of Columbia may affect your decisions. Making informed decisions is the best way of increasing your chances of adopting a child.  By way of example, we have listed below a few of the important parts of District of Columbia child adoption law including such topics as advertising, adoption expenses, and the critical issue of ending the biological parental rights (called a Consent, Relinquishment or Surrender).

Use of Intermediaries/Facilitators
Citation: Ann. Code § 4-1405(a)

No person other than the parent, guardian, or relative within the third degree, and no firm, corporation, association, or agency other than a licensed child-placing agency may place or arrange or assist in placing or arranging for the placement of a child under 16 years of age in a family home or for adoption.

State Regulation of Adoption Expenses
Allowable Payments for Arranging Adoption
Citation: § 4-1410

No person or agency may charge for services in connection with placing a child for adoption.

Consent to Adoption
Who Must Consent to an Adoption
Citation: Ann. Code § 16-304

Consent to a proposed adoption of a person under age 18 is necessary from:
Both parents, if they are both alive
The living parent, if one of the parents is dead
The court-appointed guardian of the prospective adopted person
A licensed child-placing agency or the Mayor, if the parental rights of the parent or parents have been terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction or by a release of parental rights to the Mayor or licensed child-placing agency
The Mayor, in any situation not otherwise provided for by this subsection
Minority of a natural parent is not a bar to that parent's consent to adoption.

Age When Consent of Adoptee is Considered or Required
Citation: Ann. Code § 16-304

Consent to a proposed adoption is necessary from the prospective adopted person if he or she is age 14 or older.

When Parental Consent is not Needed
Citation: Ann. Code § 16-304

When a parent whose consent is required, after such notice as the court directs, cannot be located, or has abandoned the prospective adopted person and voluntarily failed to contribute to his or her support for a period of at least 6 months next preceding the date of the filing of the petition, the consent of that parent is not required.

The court may grant a petition for adoption without any of the consents specified above when the court finds, after a hearing, that the consent or consents are withheld contrary to the best interest of the child.

When Consent Can Be Executed
Citation: Ann. Code § 4-1406(b)

No relinquishment of parental rights shall be made within the first 72 hours after birth. Prior to any relinquishment, the licensed child-placing agency shall provide counseling, by a professional social worker, to the relinquishing parent regarding the alternative services available in addition to psychological and emotional counseling to both the parent and the child.

Revocation of Consent
Citation: Ann. Code § 4-1406(c)-(d)

Any relinquishment of parental rights executed by a single natural parent or by both natural parents, other than by court order as provided in this subsection, may be automatically revoked by a verified writing executed by the single parent or both parents, respectively, and submitted to the agency within 10 calendar days of executing a legal relinquishment. Where both natural parents execute a relinquishment of parental rights, other than by court order, either parent may automatically revoke his or her relinquishment of parental rights by executing a verified writing submitted to the agency within 10 calendar days of executing the relinquishment. The rights of the parent not seeking custody shall be terminated, and such parent shall not have the power to obstruct the revocation. No relinquishment of parental rights shall be considered final until the revocation period has expired with no revocation having been made by the natural parent. Automatic revocation of relinquishment can be exercised only once.

A waiting period of 30 days from the date of revocation of the first relinquishment shall expire before a second relinquishment can be executed. A relinquishment, if exercised a second time, shall be irrevocable, unless an additional right to revoke is granted by court order upon a finding that the relinquishment was not given voluntarily, e.g., the relinquishment was induced by fraud, coercion, material mistake, or other factors that bear on a determination of voluntariness.

Rights of Presumed (Putative) Fathers, The
Registry/Paternity Requirements to Receive Notice
Citation: §§ 16-2357; 16-304; 16-2359

Notice of termination proceeding is given to both parents, a court appointed guardian, or licensed agency.
If a parent is given proper notice and does not appear at the hearing, the judge may proceed without him or her.
When a parent cannot be located, or has abandoned the prospective adopted person, and voluntarily failed to contribute to his of her support for a period of at least 6 months preceding the date of the filing of the petition, notice is not required.

Please visit adoption law in District of Columbia for more details.

Yes, through both public and private adoption agencies.  For example, in 2004, District of Columbia had 795 children in the welfare system waiting to be adopted of whom 8 were under the age of 1 year, and 179 were between ages 1-5 years old. The actual number of children adopted through District of Columbia public child welfare agencies was only 436, which represents only a small portion of the total number of all District of Columbia adoptions (exact numbers are not available at this time).

Remember that while you may be a resident of District of Columbia, you are not limited to adopting a child from District of Columbia.  You can adopt a child born in District of Columbia, a child born in any other U.S. state, or even a foreign born child.  What is important for you to understand is that infants and children are available for adoption in District of Columbia, in each of the other the 49 states, and in many foreign countries.

Yes, we can help you and so can any licensed child adoption agency (we have listed several below).  By way of introduction to Adoption Services, Inc, I will relate to you a little about myself and our child adoption agency.

Almost 40 years ago I (Dr. Vince Berger) began working as a psychologist with pregnant teens in the Pittsburgh city school system. It was very challenging because in those days there were very few services for these young women, society was not yet accepting of unmarried and/or pregnant teens, and the word "adoption" was hardly ever used.

I loved the work I was doing and knowing that I was personally able to help so many of the pregnant women I was working with. But something was missing - I did not feel I was helping people enough. So, I set out to provide the personal and professional care that a birth mother and adopting family need and deserve in the adoption process.

I started a full service, non-profit adoption agency. Not just any agency, but one that was, and still is, dedicated to helping birth parents and adopting families receive the best and most comprehensive of adoption related services. Over the past 20 years, my staff and I have helped over 9,000 adopting families, birth parents, their babies and children.

I love helping people. I work 6 days a week and answer calls at all hours. The hours I put in are long but never hard, since I find so much joy and strength in helping others.

I hope that you will call me or my staff so we can help you in the adoption process. However, if you don't want to call us, then please review the agencies listed here and give one of them a call. Do not give up until you get the help and attention you need and deserve.

Thank you for letting us help, and good luck.

Dr. Berger
and the staff of Adoption Services

Adoption Agencies in District of Columbia

Adoption Center of Washington, Inc.
1726 M Street NW
Suite 1101
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 452-8278
Fax: (202) 452-8280
Toll-Free: (800) 452-3878

Adoption Service Information Agency, Inc. (ASIA)
7720 Alaska Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20012
Phone: (202) 726-7193
Fax: (202) 722-4928

Adoptions Together
419 7th Street, NW
Suite 201
Washington, DC 20004
Phone: (202) 628-7420

Barker Foundation, Inc.
4400 MacArthur Boulevard NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20818
Phone: (202) 363-7511
Toll-Free: (800) 673-8489

Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Washington D.C.
1438 Rhode Island Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20018
Phone: (202) 526-4100

Family and Child Services, Inc.
929 L Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 289-1510
Fax: (202) 371-0863

Progressive Life Center
1123 11th Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 842-4570
Fax: (202) 842-1035

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If you are looking for a child adoption agency simply click the link below for the state to see a list of the adoption agencies in that state.

Why You Need an Adoption Consultant

There are many risks when you go to adopt a child including losing a child after you have already taken them home (referred to as a disruption), loosing all of the money you have invested in the adoption if the birth mother changes her mind, or finding that there are previously unknown or undisclosed fees that may appear. Dr Berger has helped thousands of  adopting families with domestic adoptions and international adoptions and he is available to assist you no matter what type of adoption you chose to pursue and regardless of whether you work with an adoption agency, facilitator or adoption attorney.  He can help you save your  time, effort and money in helping you to decide what routes to take and the best way to achieve your goal of adopting a child. He can help reduce your risks and potential pain and can help you avoid many of the problems and pitfalls found in the adoption process. You can read and download his free adoption manual or, for more information on how he can help you, please visit his Adoption Consultant link.

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