How to Adopt a Child in Nebraska

Choosing to adopt a child is a profound and rewarding decision. If you are an individual or family hoping to adopt a child in Nebraska and provide a loving home, we are here to help you every step of the way. The NAAA is a collaboration of agencies dedicated to the welfare of children and families. We strive to be advocates for families considering adoption, offering the guidance, support, and resources needed to navigate this life-changing journey.

Happy Baby Smiling

Benefits of Working with an Agency

Adopting a child is a significant and deeply personal decision that involves much more than just a legal process. Partnering with a licensed adoption agency can provide invaluable support, ensuring that every aspect of your adoption experience is handled with care and professionalism.

  • Comprehensive Support: Adoption involves navigating complex legal, social, and emotional issues. Our member agencies are equipped to guide you through these challenges, ensuring that ethical standards are maintained at every step.
  • Expert Guidance: Our agencies provide access to qualified and experienced adoption professionals who offer information, education, and support tailored to your unique situation. Their expertise ensures that you are well-prepared for each phase of the adoption process.
  • Ongoing Support: Adoption is a lifelong journey for all involved. A licensed child placing agency offers continuous support to your family, helping you navigate the various life stages of adoption.
  • Support for Birth Parents: If you are considering placing your child for adoption, our agencies offer compassionate support and guidance for expectant parents, ensuring that your rights and needs are respected throughout the process.
  • Record Keeping: Our agencies maintain permanent records, ensuring that your adoption is documented for future services and reference.
Happy Baby Smiling

Benefits of Working with an Agency

Adopting a child is a significant and deeply personal decision that involves much more than just a legal process. Partnering with a licensed adoption agency can provide invaluable support, ensuring that every aspect of your adoption experience is handled with care and professionalism.

  • Comprehensive Support: Adoption involves navigating complex legal, social, and emotional issues. Our member agencies are equipped to guide you through these challenges, ensuring that ethical standards are maintained at every step.

  • Expert Guidance: Our agencies provide access to qualified and experienced adoption professionals who offer information, education, and support tailored to your unique situation. Their expertise ensures that you are well-prepared for each phase of the adoption process.

  • Ongoing Support: Adoption is a lifelong journey for all involved. A licensed child placing agency offers continuous support to your family, helping you navigate the various life stages of adoption.

  • Support for Birth Parents: If you are considering placing your child for adoption, our agencies offer compassionate support and guidance for expectant parents, ensuring that your rights and needs are respected throughout the process.

  • Record Keeping: Our agencies maintain permanent records, ensuring that your adoption is documented for future services and reference.

In Nebraska, each adoption is unique, but state law mandates that a home study must be completed and approved by a licensed child placing agency. A home study is an educational process that includes at least six face-to-face hours with an adoption professional. This process gathers essential information about prospective parents to determine the safety and suitability of the adoptive family.

How Do I Begin?

01

Reach out to and interview licensed child placing agencies in your area. This will help you find the agency that best aligns with your values and needs.

02

Consider what type of adoption is right for your family, whether it’s domestic, identified, kinship, foster child, or international.

03

Once you’ve chosen an agency, you can begin the home study process, which is a critical step in ensuring that your home is a safe and nurturing environment for a child.

04

Learn about how parenting through adoption differs from parenting a child by birth. This knowledge will help you better understand the unique dynamics of an adoptive family.

Types of Adoptions

Deciding to build your family through adoption is a deeply personal choice that can arise from various circumstances, such as infertility or a desire to expand your family. In Nebraska, there are several types of adoption placements. Below, you’ll find descriptions of the different options available to help you determine which is the best fit for your family.

Domestic adoption, often referred to as private domestic adoption, involves the placement of U.S.-born infants with adoptive families chosen by the biological parents. This type of adoption allows the birth parents to have a say in selecting the adoptive family.

In an identified or designated adoption, the prospective adoptive family and the biological family are already known to each other. This type of adoption can offer a more direct connection between the two families, facilitating a smoother transition for the child.

Kinship adoption involves adopting a child that is known to you. The adoptive parent could be a family member, friend, teacher, coach, clergy, neighbor, etc., to the youth or biological parents.

Foster child adoption involves adopting children from the state foster care system whose biological parents’ rights have been terminated. This process provides a permanent home for children who have been in foster care, offering them stability and security. To learn more about this type of adoption in Nebraska, contact 1 (800) 772-7368.

International adoption, also known as intercountry or transnational adoption, involves adopting a child from a different country. This type of adoption allows individuals or couples to become the legal and permanent parents of a child born abroad, offering the opportunity to expand your family across borders.