Adoption Agencies in Minnesota

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 Minnesota (some of what you can and can't do) and then provide you with information on children available for adoption in Minnesota.  We then relate how we can assist you during the adoption process, and finally we provide a list of licensed Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota child adoption law including such topics as adoption facilitators, adoption expenses, and the critical issue of ending the biological parental rights (called a Consent, Relinquishment or Surrender).

Use of Facilitators in Adoptive Placements
Use of Intermediaries/Facilitators
Citation: Ann. Stat. §§ 259.21; 259.47

It is unlawful for a person, other than the commissioner or an agency, knowingly to engage in placement activities without being licensed by the commissioner, except for the placement of a child by a birth parent or legal guardian in a pre adoptive home. ''Placement activities'' include:

Placement
Arranging or providing short-term foster care pending an adoptive placement
Facilitating placement by maintaining a list in any form of birth parents or prospective adoptive parents
Collecting health and social histories of a birth family
Conducting an adoption study
Witnessing consents to an adoption

State Regulation of Adoption Expenses
Birth Parent Expenses Allowed
Citation: § 259.55 Subd. 1

Reasonable counseling, medical, and legal fees, which shall be paid directly to the provider of the service
Reasonable expenses for transportation, meals, and lodging incurred for placement of the child or to access permitted services
Adoption services provided by an agency, that must be paid directly to the agency
Reasonable living expenses due to loss of income resulting from the pregnancy

Birth Parent Expenses Not Allowed
Citation: § 259.55 Subd. 1

Payments for living expenses shall not extend beyond 6 weeks after delivery, unless the court determines that the mother is unable to work due to physical limitations relating to the birth.
'Reasonable living expenses' does not include lost wages, gifts, educational expenses, or other similar expenses.

Allowable Payments for Arranging Adoption
Citation: § 259.55 Subd. 3(b)

A person may not give money or anything of value to the birth parent if the person is engaged or has engaged in any placement activity.

Allowable Payments for Relinquishing Child
Citation: § 259.55 Subd. 2, 3

Reimbursement for payments for expenses is not allowed when a birth parent refuses to consent or withdraws consent to the adoption.
It is unlawful to give or accept payment for the placement of a child for adoption.
Payment shall not be contingent upon placement, consent, or cooperation in the completion of an adoption.

Consent to Adoption
Who Must Consent to an Adoption
Citation: Ann. Stat. § 259.24, subd. 1, 2

No child shall be adopted without the consent of the child's parents and the child's guardian, if there be one.
If there is no parent or guardian qualified to consent to the adoption, the consent shall be given by the commissioner.

If an unmarried parent who consents to the adoption of a child is under age 18, the consent of the minor parent's parents or guardian, if any, also shall be required. If either or both the parents are disqualified for any reason, the consent of such parent shall be waived, and the consent of the guardian only shall be sufficient. If there is neither a parent nor guardian qualified to give such consent, the consent may be given by the commissioner.

Age When Consent of Adoptee is Considered or Required
Citation: Ann. Stat. § 259.24, subd. 3

When the child to be adopted is age 14 or older, the child's written consent also shall be necessary.

When Parental Consent is not Needed
Citation: Ann. Stat. § 259.24, subd. 1

Consent shall not be required of a parent:

Who is not entitled to notice of the proceedings
Who has abandoned the child
Who has lost custody of the child through a divorce decree or a decree of dissolution, and upon whom notice has been served as required by § 259.49
Whose parental rights to the child have been terminated or who has lost custody of a child through a final commitment of the juvenile court or through a decree in a prior adoption proceeding

When Consent Can Be Executed
Citation: Ann. Stat. § 259.24, subd. 2a

Not sooner than 72 hours after the birth of a child and not later than 60 days after the child's placement in a prospective adoptive home, a person whose consent is required under this section shall execute a consent.

Revocation of Consent
Citation: Ann. Stat. § 259.24 subd.6a

A parent's consent to adoption may be withdrawn for any reason within 10 working days after the consent is executed and acknowledged. Written notification of withdrawal of consent must be received by the agency to which the child was surrendered no later than the 10th working day after the consent is executed and acknowledged. On the day following the 10th working day after execution and acknowledgment, the consent shall become irrevocable, except upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction after written findings that consent was obtained by fraud.

Rights of Presumed (Putative) Fathers
Registry/Paternity Requirements to Receive Notice
Citation: §§ 259.49(1)(b); 259.52, Subd. 7

The putative father may register any time before the birth of the child, but must register no later than 30 days after the child's birth.
A putative father who has registered must file his intent to initiate a paternity action within 30 days after receiving notice from the adoption registry in order to preserve his rights to the child.

Please visit adoption law in Minnesota for more details.

Yes, through both public and private adoption agencies.  For example, in 2004, Minnesota had 1,487 children in the welfare system waiting to be adopted of whom 101 were under the age of 1 year, and 379 were between ages 1-5 years old. The actual number of children adopted through Minnesota public child welfare agencies was only 603, which represents only a small portion of the total number of all Minnesota adoptions (exact numbers are not available at this time).

Remember that while you may be a resident of Minnesota, you are not limited to adopting a child from Minnesota.  You can adopt a child born in Minnesota, 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 Minnesota, 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.

My goal continues to be to help you. Accordingly, in addition to the website you are on now and the Adoption Services website, we created Adopting Family Resources and International Adoption Help as well as Child Adoption Laws and Child Adoption Resources and Pregnancy And Children to give you a information and help.

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

African American Adoption Agency
2356 University Avenue
Suite 220
St. Paul, MN 55114
Phone: (651) 659-0460
Fax: (651) 644-5306
Toll-Free: (888) 840-4084

Bethany Christian Services
3025 Harbor Lane North
Suite 316
Plymouth, MN 55447
Phone: (763) 553-0344
Fax: (763) 553-0117
Toll-Free: (866) 321-1964

Bethany Christian Services
316 Becker Avenue SW
Wilmar, MN 56201
Phone: (320) 214-0601
Fax: (320) 214-0631
Toll-Free: (866) 321-1964

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Winona
111 Market Street, Suite 2
PO Box 379
Winona, MN 55987
Phone: (507) 454-2270
Fax: (507) 457-3027
Toll-Free: (800) 227-3002

Catholic Charities/Seton Services
1276 University Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55104-4101
Phone: (651) 641-1180
Fax: (651) 641-1005

Children's Home Society & Family Services (CHSFS)
1605 Eustis Street
St. Paul, MN 55108-1219
Phone: (651) 646-6393
Fax: (651) 646-0436
Toll-Free: (800) 952-9302

Chosen Ones Adoption Agency
1622 East Sandhurst Drive
Maplewood, MN 55109
Phone: (651) 770-5508
Fax: (651) 330-7582

Downey Side
400 Sibley Street
Suite 20
St. Paul, MN 55101
Phone: (651) 228-0117
Fax: (651) 228-0038

Downey Side
560 Dunnell Court
Suite 201
Owatonna, MN 55060
Phone: (507) 446-8503
Fax: (507) 446-8505

Family Alternatives
416 East Hennepin Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Phone: (612) 379-5341
Fax: (612) 379-5328

HOPE Adoption and Family Services International, Inc.
5850 Omaha Avenue North
Oak Park Heights, MN 55082
Phone: (651) 439-2446
Fax: (651) 439-2071

LDS Social Services
6120 Earl Brown Drive
Suite 210
Brooklyn Center, MN 55430-2123
Phone: (763) 560-0900
Fax: (763) 560-1288

Love Basket, Inc.
3902 Minnesota Avenue
Duluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218) 720-3097
Fax: (218) 722-0195

Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota (LSS)
424 West Superior Street
Suite 600
Duluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218) 726-4888
Fax: (218) 726-4885
Toll-Free: (888) 205-3769

Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota (LSS)
2414 Park Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55404
Phone: (612) 879-5230
Fax: (612) 871-0354
Toll-Free: (888) 205-3769

Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota (LSS)
22 Wilson Avenue
Suite 110
St. Cloud, MN 56302
Phone: (320) 251-7700
Fax: (320) 251-8898
Toll-Free: (888) 205-3769

Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota (LSS)
715 11th Street North
Suite 401
Moorhead, MN 56560
Phone: (218) 236-1494 ext. 207
Fax: (218) 236-0836
Toll-Free: (888) 205-3769

New Horizons Adoption Agency, Inc. (NHAA)
Frost Benco Building
Highway 254
Frost, MN 56033
Phone: (507) 878-3200
Fax: (507) 878-3132

New Life Family Services (NLFS)
1515 East 66th Street
Richfield, MN 55423
Phone: (612) 866-7643
Fax: (612) 798-0965
Toll-Free: (888) 690-4673

North Homes, Inc.
1880 River Road
Grand Rapids, MN 55744
Phone: (218) 327-3000
Fax: (218) 327-1871
Toll-Free: (888) 430-3055

PATH (Professional Association of Treatment Homes)
600 25th Avenue South
#104
St. Cloud, MN 56302
Phone: (320) 529-0862
Fax: (320) 654-8875

PATH (Professional Association of Treatment Homes)
1510 Bemidji Avenue North
#14
Bemidji, MN 55436
Phone: (218) 751-7515
Fax: (218) 751-0253

PATH (Professional Association of Treatment Homes)
212 West Main Street
Marshall, MN 56528
Phone: (507) 532-4635
Fax: (507) 532-2757

PATH (Professional Association of Treatment Homes) (PATH, Inc.)
2324 University Avenue West
#120
St. Paul, MN 55114
Phone: (651) 641-0455
Fax: (651) 641-0452
Toll-Free: (866) 797-3224

Permanent Family Resource Center (PFRC)
1220 North Tower Road
Suite 101
Fergus Falls, MN 56537
Phone: (218) 998-3400
Fax: (218) 739-4989
Toll-Free: (888) 240-7469

Professional Association of Treatment Homes (PATH)
500 Alworth Building
306 West Superior Street
Duluth, MN 55802
Phone: (218) 722-6106
Fax: (218) 722-8356

Summit Adoption Home Studies, Inc.
1389 Summit Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55105
Phone: (651) 645-6657
Fax: (651) 645-6713

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 or contact him by phone (1-800-943-0400) or email.

    [  Return to Adoption Services Home Page ]