A friend of mine once asked me if she would have to do foster care first before adopting from foster care. She did not want to give up her career to foster a child, however, she felt that to adopt a child privately or otherwise would be a financial burden on her and her husband. I gave her a basic idea of what to expect from our local children’s Aide Society. Keep in mind though that each country, state, and province requirements may vary slightly.

1. Contact Children's Services: You will need to contact your local children’s services and make them aware that you are interested in adopting from foster care. They will meet with you, go through the requirements and qualifications, do a home study, you will need to attend adoption classes.

2. Adoption Process Begins: You can get a better understanding of the adoption process in the following 7 steps.

3. Matching You With a Child: After the interviews for the home study are complete and once you are approved, the social worker must put all of this information together to be presented to guardianship workers and other social workers involved in making the decision to place a child in a home.

4. Waiting and then Making a Decision: Now you will wait until a decision is made on a match of the parent and child. The parents will be informed and then be given confidential paperwork detailing any health or behavior issues regarding the child, as well as some information about the child's personality. The parents are to look over the information and make a decision about their comfort in adopting that child.

5. Pre-Placement Visits: Once a match has been made, the child will begin coming to visits in your home. Depending on the child’s age and needs depends on how long the visits will be. They could be weekends, or week long visits.

6. Probationary Period: If all goes well the child will be placed in your home for a probationary period of 6 months to a year or until they are comfortable that the family is doing well and accessing any help that they need. Once the probationary period is over and everyone is comfortable, the papers are sent off to the court and the child becomes a legal member of your family. The process can be long, but it is worth it all in the end. Every child deserves to be taken care of by a good family. Whether you are a foster parent who turns into real parents for kids in foster care who have been abused and neglected or a parent who adopts from the foster care system. Bless your heart! for you have touched and changed a child’s life, as well as the child touching and changing your lives, thus, making an attached and happy family.