FAQ - Adoption

For more than 70 years CFS has been involved in providing pregnancy counseling and adoptive services. Our program is fully licensed and each of the staff members in this program have ten to twenty-five or more years in child welfare work.

CFS still maintains an active infant adoption program and for several decades most of these adoptions have fallen into the “open” category. CFS also completes adoption evaluations/placements for local Department of Human Service (DHS) offices in the counties it serves. In addition our staff members are able to complete evaluations and supervisory visits for international adoptions, as well as evaluations for attorney assisted adoptions and for blended family adoptions.

The cost for adoption services varies based on the type of service requested and current agency costs in providing those services. For further information you can contact our Bay City office (989-892-2504).

CFS handles adoption services within the 11 counties of the Diocese of Saginaw. These include: Arenac, Bay, Clare, Gladwin, Gratiot, Huron, Isabella, Midland, Saginaw, Sanilac, Tuscola. If you live in another county, you could contact the local Department of Human Service in your county or the local Catholic Family Service or Catholic Social Service agency in the diocese in which you live.

It can pending upon the type of child(ren) you want to adopt. Children in the home is usually not an advantage in infant adoption since most birth mothers express a preference for childless couples. Older children in the home might even be an advantage when adopting older/special needs children from the standpoint of the “experience” factor. It probably will not make a difference for an international adoption.

It can be. Most birth mothers request couples between 21 and 40 years of age and are looking for the optimal two-parent family. Because special needs children are typically older at the age of adoption, the age of the prospective adoptive family is less an issue. The possibility of a special needs adoption by a single person increases with the age of the child but numerous other factors come under consideration. Generally international adoptions are more flexible in both areas but it varies from country to country.

Try to identify the type of child/adoption you want to pursue. Where you start, how long it will take and even the content of the evaluation report can or will be effected by that choice. Call several agencies, attorneys and DHS Offices to gather and compare information. Ask about costs, procedures and time frames. Lastly, remember adoption has never been a static process, major changes have just taken place this year in Michigan and this is a process that will take months and possibly years.