Adopting A Child? What Adoptive Parents Should Prepare For

Growing your family through adoption is a beautiful thing — and one that needs lots of planning. Just as biological parents anticipate a new child through the time of pregnancy, adoptive parents look forward to and make arrangements for their new addition, too. From setting up a room and gathering clothes to finding a pediatrician and potentially childcare, each part of the preparation is worthwhile. Once you have your new child to love, you’ll be so glad you invested this energy beforehand.

What are the best ways to prepare for adoption? Here are a few ideas:

Plan for Daily Logistics

If your child is not school-aged yet, who will be the guardian during the day? Can someone in your home be present, or what childcare will you use? The sooner you look into daycare possibilities, the better, as these can fill up quickly.

Find a Good Pediatrician

Knowing your little one’s health is in good hands will matter no matter what his or her age. If you haven’t looked into pediatricians yet, ask around and see where you will feel most comfortable.

Get First Aid Training

If you haven’t already taken a CPR and/or first-aid course, you’ll never regret having that extra knowledge and skill. Should an unexpected crisis occur, you’ll be prepared to respond.

Look Into Insurance

You’ll want to add your child to your health insurance policy as soon as legally possible, so talk to your provider about how this works. Likewise, planning for the future as a parent means thinking about life insurance and/or a will to protect your child in case something happens to you. To anticipate future health needs, you may also wish to get biological insurance that allows you to bank your child’s stem cells from baby or wisdom teeth.

The planning period before finalizing an adoption provides the perfect opportunity for getting the above tasks completed. Interested in learning more about what to do now? For a few key must-do’s before your adoption occurs, check out the accompanying resource.