EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second part of a two-story series on adoption alternatives after the recent Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The first story was published in the Aug. 31 edition of The Tifton Gazette.

Part II

Foster parenting is a more temporary solution for parents not looking for long-term parenting; parental rights to the child are often not terminated since the goal is to usually reunite the child with a parent or family member.

Mary and her husband, Jeremy, adopted three siblings through Georgia Division of Family & Children Services and have a 10-year-old biological son. The couple asked that their last names not be used to shield the identity of their children.

When they learned she couldn’t have any more children, they looked into adoption initially, but eventually made their way into becoming foster parents. 

“That seemed to just kind of fit best for what we were trying to do and there was a need and we were able, time wise, to do fostering. So, at that point, when we started doing fostering, we weren’t doing it with the plan to adopt,” Mary said. 

A year into being foster parents to 3-month-old twins, Mary and her husband were informed by their caseworker that the twins’ mother wasn’t doing well on her case plan. The caseworker said there would be a plan that included potential termination of the mother’s parental rights, if the reunification route was not successful.   

“So we talked about it, and (the twins) had been with us for a year then, and so it just felt right,” Mary said.

Once it was decided to terminate the birth mother’s rights, Mary described the lengthy process toward adoption. Much of it stemmed from a relative of the twins having interest in adopting them. Also, during the process the twins’ mother became pregnant again.  

“We knew that their mom had gotten pregnant again and that the child was going to come into care, so then we ended up with three, but this was not the plan,” Mary said. 

Child placement organizations agree that some groups of children are harder to place since foster and adoptive parents typically have preferences on characteristics of the child they are will willing to bring into their home. In general, sibling groups, children with special needs and older youth are more difficult to place.

“I know we just placed, last year, a sibling group of six, so it can be done — it just takes a lot of effort on our part and it takes someone willing to open their home and their heart for a specific child or large sibling group or something along those lines,” Smith said. “The babies right out of the nursery are more easy to place. But, again, it can be done.”

Georgia DHS added in an emailed statement that teens make up the largest number of harder to place children still waiting for families.

“It can also be difficult to find foster and adoptive homes for large sibling groups and youth with complex needs,” Georgia DHS stated.

The downside to adoption through the state or foster care, aside from a private agency, is the “unknown” of the outcomes, Mary said. 

“Sometimes you’re kind of mentally preparing that this child is going to go back with their mom, like that’s what the goal is, and then sometimes that goal can switch between days,” she explained. “We had one time that the kids were placed back with their mom, and then came back to us the next day because it wasn’t working out. So just that back-and-forth and not knowing exactly what the plan and the direction is going to be was really hard.”

Fostering-to-adopt, Mary said, can also take an emotional toll on families waiting to permanently grow their family, she said.  

“Because your kids and your family, like your parents, we all get attached to these kids too — which is a good and healthy thing,” she said. “But when those kids had to leave, it was hard. I sat there and cried with my oldest son when they were going to leave. And he was so sad that they were going to leave and we talked a lot about just because it’s a hard thing doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.”

Smith agreed with the notion of fostering-to-adopt being a more difficult path for permanency.

“What I’ve found over my years working with DHR is that people typically foster-to-adopt for two reasons: Either as a mission and a service to others or to grow their family, she said. “And so those that are in it to grow their family might have a difficult time with the reunification process or us looking for (birth) family members may be more difficult to for them at times, versus the others who are wanting to do this as a mission or as a service.”

Though the foster-to-adopt option is less predictable, it saves families looking to adopt much more money. Mary and her husband avoided out-of-pocket expenses toward the adoption.

“Because (the state has already) gone to court, we’re the ones that carry the burden to prove that the child is dependent and to prove that termination of parental rights is in the child’s best interest,” Smith explained. “So we carry that burden of proof and the cost to get it to that stage.”

In addition, families adopting children considered “specials needs” often see no out-of-pocket expenses due to incentives offered by the state. Most special needs adoptions also receive monthly adoption subsidies and medical coverage through Medicaid.  

In Georgia, a special needs adoption involves a child who has been in foster care or adoption for more than two years; a child with a physical, mental or emotional disability; or a child who is a member of a sibling group of two or more placed in the same home for adoption.

For Alabama, a special needs adoption is considered any child 5 or older; children with a background of parental substance abuse, mental illness that places them at risk; children with various degrees of mental, physical or emotional problems; and a sibling group of two or more placed at the same time with the same family.

While financial and in-kind support is available in some adoptions, Mary encourages people looking to become foster parents or to adopt to know themselves and be willing to ask for support. 

“We have church and friends and lots and lots of people that have walked through this with us,” she said. “Just be willing to accept help because a lot of times in fostering and adopting it’s easy to think because it was your choice to take it on that the burden should lay solely with you instead of allowing other people to help you.”

States push to recruit foster, adoptive parents

Last year, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp — who signed a law in 2019 essentially banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected — signed several laws aimed to reform adoption and foster care in Georgia.   

Among them was a bill to increase the tax credit for families who adopt a child from foster care from $2,000 to $6,000 per year for five years, and another bill lowered the age required to adopt from age 25 to 21.

“The most fundamental need for any child is a safe, loving home,” Kemp said. “By making it more affordable to adopt, reducing bureaucratic red tape that stands in the way of loved ones adopting kids, and championing the safety of children across our state, we can ensure Georgia’s children are placed in those homes and secure a safer, brighter future for generations to come.”

Earlier this month, Kemp announced a statewide marketing campaign to help recruit and retain more foster parents for youth in state custody.

Information on foster care and adoption in Georgia can be found on the Division of Family & Children Services website at dfcs.georgia.gov/services/adoption.

This year, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed S31, which guarantees employees 12 weeks of unpaid family leave during the first year of caring for an adopted child. In 2020, she signed a bill that allows a judge to consider a foster parent’s involvement in a prospective adoptive child’s life in the event that a relative of the child comes forward in the 11th hour on an adoption process.  

For information on the adoption requirements in Alabama, visit dhr.alabama.gov/adoption/adoption-checklist/.