Domestic Infant Adoption

 Eligibility to Adopt through our Infant Program

All prospective adoptive families - married, single, domestic partners - are welcome to attend our Prospective Adoptive Parent Workshop to learn more about our program. All applicants must meet our basic guidelines to become an approved waiting family:

  1. Applicants must live in Alaska

  2. Applicants must be 21 years or older

  3. Biological or adoptive children in the home are over one year old

  4. The applicants may not have current foster children in the home

  5. All pending adoptions are finalized

  6. Applicants need proof of adequate housing and income to support a child

  7. Per Alaska State statute, applicants must be legally married or single. At this time, Alaska Adoption Services is unable to work with unmarried couples.

  8. Good health and life expectancy as noted by a physician

  9. Applicants must attend the AAS Prospective Adoptive Parent Workshop, complete mandatory online trainings, and pay required fees

Alaska Adoption Services works with 15 active waiting families at a time so that the wait time in the waiting pool is shorter. This also helps the agency develop personal relationships with our adoptive families and provide on-going support throughout the process.

The Adoption Process

  • These half-day workshops are designed to introduce you to the domestic adoption process and give you a basic understanding of:

    • Who we are

    • Our mission and how we operate

    • The importance of openness in the future with the birth family

    • The importance of birth parents

    • The process of what you will need to go through and the next steps on your journey

    • Background checks

    • Parent Packet Application Process

    • Overview of Home Study/Assessment

    • The length of the process with approximate timelines

    • Overview of family selection/matching process

  • All our families are expected to complete online learning modules in the Domestic Infant Adoption package through Creating a Family.

    *Certificates from previously taken Adoption Learning Partners courses will still be accepted.

  • Once you feel comfortable with us and decide to pursue your adoption through our agency, we will provide you with an application, including completing a thorough background check with fingerprinting.

  • A home study is a very thorough assessment of your home and family that includes the history of all members of the household, fingerprinting and background checks, a financial history for your family, mental health and physical health history and an assessment of the family’s readiness for adoption. The adoption home study process generally takes two to three months to complete.

  • We will help you create a family profile that highlights the special and unique things about you and your family. Your profile will include photos, why you are ready to adopt, and unique facts about your family to help birth families feel a connection with you.

  • Birth families will always make the decision on who to place their child with. We will first assess and get to know the birth family’s motivation for their choice and get to know what they value in a placement for their child. We will present them waiting families that match their values or ideals of the type of family they want their child placed with.

    Once a birth family is ready to meet an adoptive family, we will facilitate a Meet and Greet to determine if it is an appropriate match. We will provide opportunities for families to get together more than once if possible prior to the baby being delivered. During these meetings, a discussion will be facilitated to include openness in the future, hospital planning, desires and expectations during the birth experience, as well as boundaries in the relationship.

  • Placement occurs once the baby is legally placed in the care of the adoptive family. Though the baby will go home with the adoptive family, Alaska Adoption Services will have legal custody of the baby until the adoption is finalized no sooner than 6 months later.

  • Post Placement Assessments are done once a child is placed in your home. It consists of home visits from an agency staff member one month, three months and five months after a placement. The report will cover how the baby and the family is adjusting and any concerns that have come up along the way. These reports are then provided to the court when it is time to finalize the adoption.

  • The adoption will be finalized no sooner than six months after placement. The adoptive family will attend a court hearing where the judge will review the home study, the post placement reports, as well as the relinquishment paperwork. As long as everything is in order, the adoption will be finalized!

Ready to take the next step?