Adoption: Walking You Through the Process

Ever wondered what goes into an infant adoption? Now's your chance.

It’s been called expensive, nervewracking, mysterious, potentially heart-breaking – but the Village Family Service Center in Fargo is aiming to get rid of most of those preconceived notions about adoption.

They’re offering a free information session coming up next month to anyone interested in adopting a baby. Social workers there work with you and with the birth mother, said the Village’s Sarah Flesberg, and they keep a wait list going so that people aren’t dragged through a process that seems neverending.
The process can take around 3 years and cost about 16 thousand dollars, but Flesberg will work with families to give them guidance on the financial commitment. Foster adoptions are typically less expensive, ringing in at around $6,000 for the process. International adoptions are often much more expensive, running up to $50,000.

“Well, when I work with families I’ll help guide them to how they can raise money and achieve their goals, like for instance, some families will take out a loan to help with the process. And we encourage open adoption, since that really reduces the number of women who change their minds,” Flesberg said.

Flesberg said while birth mothers change their minds and decide to keep their babies about 20 percent of the time nationwide, their rate is about five percent. The Village also does national adoptions.

If you go: https://www.thevillagefamily.org/adoption

6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3,  The Village Family Service Center, 1201 25th St. S., Fargo

6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, United Lutheran Church, 324 Chestnut St., Grand Forks