Frequently Asked Questions

All of our adoptions are domestic and the majority are semi-open. Although, we can do fully open adoptions if both parties agree to it. The Adoption Alliance’s goal is to assist all parties of an adoption plan with the best services to meeting everyone’s needs.

Adoptive parents must be between the ages of 25-50 years old at the time of application. Families with children under the age of 2 years old are not eligible to apply until the child has reached age 2.

The agency no longer allows adoptive families to select a gender preference.

Yes, Non-traditional families can adopt through our Agency.

The average wait time will vary, as it is the birth mother who selects the adoptive family for her child. An adoptive family may positively affect their waiting period by being flexible and open to different situations; such as race of child, prenatal exposure to alcohol or drugs, etc. Please discuss the situations you may be comfortable with.

Our agency typically has 30-35 families waiting to be matched.  While families are being approved, others are being matched or receiving a placement.  Therefore, the number of those waiting for a match remains rather consistent.

Our application fee is $250 and is non-refundable. Please note that submitting an application fee does not guarantee acceptance as clients of the Agency.

The total fee is paid in three installments. Please contact us to request an application packet in order to receive detailed agency fee information.

No. The agency has specific guidelines for our profiles.  The agency’s Profile Specialist will create a beautiful profile with your input.   This service is included as a part of the agency fee.

No.  The home study is a separate cost.

The home study must be reviewed by the agency to make sure it addresses all Texas requirements.  If not, a brief addendum or home study update may be required. Some states require for a home study to be completed by a licensed agency versus a private social worker.

In Texas, the home study must be updated every twelve months from the date of the last home visit.

The State of Texas regulations require adoptive parents to receive “adoption education”. The agency will provide guidance regarding quarterly adoption education once an adoptive family has been approved as Parents in Waiting.

You will receive an approval letter via email and a request for the non-refundable Parents in Waiting Fee. Once the agency receives funds, a member of the agency staff will conduct an introduction call with you. At this time your profile will be added to our website and hard copies of your profile are prepared for presentation to birth parents. All active Adoptive Parents in Waiting will begin receiving emails when the agency has a birth mother to match with a waiting family. The birth mother’s essential information will be provided within the email and her de-identified Genetic, Social & Medical History form will be attached. The case details may not match the preferences selected in your Adoptive Parent Preference form.  However, each case will be presented as an opportunity to have your profile considered. We understand that some of our clients’ preferences can change in time and with additional research. Therefore, we want to give our families the ability to consider each case. Clients are asked not to contact the caseworker to obtain further details as all pertinent information will be provided in the email. The information presented is only for Adoption Alliance Families in Waiting. Adoptive parents will have a given time frame (typically 24 hours or less) to reply to the email to indicate that they would like to have their profile presented in the given situation. This time should be used to conduct research and determine if you have a comfort level committing to the case if selected. There is no need to reply regarding cases which you are not interested in having your profile presented. Adoptive parents should check their email regularly due to the necessary short timeframe of a response.  Also, please note that your profile may not be presented if your profile does not match the birth mother’s preferences. The family who is selected by the birth mother will be contacted by the agency caseworker.

The adoptive parents will receive all available information regarding the case. This may include the birth parent(s) Genetic, Social & Medical History form(s), prenatal records if applicable and available pertaining specifically to the case presented.  A photo of the birth mother may or may not be available and should not be expected in order to make a decision regarding the case. Adoptive parents are given 24 hours to make a commitment to the case or the agency must contact the birth parents’ second choice for an adoptive family. In most cases, prenatal records may not be immediately available as the agency must request the records.  Obtaining medical records typically takes several weeks.

In most cases, the birth parents do want to talk to the adoptive parents during the pregnancy, as well as meet them. Some birth mothers may request an open adoption to include annual visits following placement. Others may be comfortable with a semi-open adoption in which photos/updates are shared following placement. Once the child is placed with the adoptive parents, the adoptive parents send pictures and letters for the birth parents through the agency. This is done once per month for the first six months and annually on the child’s birth date through 18 years of age.

The birth parents will receive adoption related counseling during the adoption process. It remains available to them during their postpartum period as well.

The agency will request prenatal records and forward them to the adoptive parents. It can take several weeks to obtain medical records once they have been requested.

The agency will request that the birth mother’s OB order a tox screen.  However, we cannot guarantee that the doctor will comply with our request. Unless there is reason to believe the birth mother is using drugs during the pregnancy, only one drug screen is requested. Drug screen results are typically not available at the time the case is presented to the adoptive parents as the agency must request the tox screen.

Most of the birth mothers are eligible for Medicaid. The agency will assist them with this as much as possible.

The birth mother cannot sign a relinquishment document until 48 hours after the birth in Texas. An unmarried birth father can sign prior to the birth, but his parental rights cannot be terminated until after the birth. A husband must also wait until 48 hours after the birth to sign a relinquishment document in the State of Texas. Once the relinquishment document is signed, it is irrevocable.

We must address a birth father’s parental rights; even if the birth father is “unknown”.  Specific methods will be addressed on a case by case basis. It is very common that few details are known regarding the birth father of the child.  Adoptive families should be aware of this and have a comfort level with this type of circumstance.

The adoptive parents Agency fee will be transferred to a new case and their profile will be made available for consideration for potential new case opportunities. 

The adoptive parents Agency fee will be transferred to a new case and their profile will be made available for consideration for potential new case opportunities.

Any agency fee that has already been paid at the time of your decision, because all fees are non-refundable once paid.