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Catholic Adoption
Adoption services are often provided by religious organizations. Many hopeful adoptive families every year choose to work with agencies who are part of their faith. Many expectant mothers choose to place their children with families of their same faith.
In the U.S., the two main Catholic adoption organizations are Catholic Charities and Catholic Social Services. They have been helping families with adoption services for more than 100 years. They offer adoption assistance by:
- Helping families adopt domestically, internationally, or through foster care.Offering pregnancy counseling to help women consider their options and make a decision about their children's future.
- Providing a full range of supportive services to those who choose to parent their child.
- Assisting women who have chosen adoption to set out their preferences for, and then to find, a loving adoptive family.
- Assisting birthparents and adoptive parents through the legal process of adoption.
- Finding receptive families and prepare them to adopt children who have special medical needs and/or who have experienced abuse or neglect.
- Maintaining a network-wide registry of children available for adoption.
In some areas of the U.S., the Catholic diocese may call their agency Catholic Social Services, rather than Catholic Charities. While the name may be different, the adoption services they provide are generally the same.
You will find that these agencies do not require a hopeful adoptive family to be of the Catholic faith. For example, if you are not Catholic, you could still get information from and work with Catholic Charities or Catholic Social Services in your local area.
There are more than 160 Catholic Charities agencies across the country. Each one provides their own services based on the needs of its local community. Most of these agencies will provide regularly scheduled adoption information meetings to provide families with answers for how to start building their family through adoption.
Here’s where to find a Catholic adoption agency near you:
Catholic Charities & Catholic Social Services – Find an agency near you
Many online adoption profile sites, such as Adoptimist.com, will allow expectant mothers to search for hopeful adoptive families who list their faith/religion as Catholic.
Sites such as CatholicAdoptionOnline.com will show only hopeful adoptive families who are Catholic.
Here are some places to find articles from Catholic adoption bloggers:
