Foster Care vs Adoption: 5 Things to Consider

Foster care and private adoption are both moving and compassionate ways to grow a family. While these two share some commonalities, the specifics of how these systems work are very different. By learning about both systems and comparing the two, you may be able to determine which option is best for your family. If you need more information, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Let’s break down some key points in considering foster care vs adoption :

• Foster care is a great way to improve a child’s life, but may not be the best way to permanently adopt a child.
• Foster care is less predictable than private adoption and provides limited control over the adoption process.
• Private adoption is more expensive than foster care.

Keep reading to the end, where we go over some things to know about adoption vs foster care.

Deciding between Foster Care and Private Adoption

The truth is the adoption vs foster care debate will come down to your preferences. If you want to expand your family in a predictable, stable way, you should look into adoption through an agency. However, if you’re considering private adoption vs foster care, and are leaning towards foster care, ask yourself if you are:

• Open to welcoming a child into your home either permanently or temporarily,
• Equipped to help a child through periods of emotional turbulence and
• Aware of the possibility of having to say goodbye to that child permanently, if they can be safely reunited with their biological parents.

Perhaps the biggest foster care vs adoption difference is that foster care is designed to reunite children with their birth parents as soon as a safe, supportive environment can be established. Foster care also has the possibility of permanent adoption, but you and your foster child should keep in mind that this is not the purpose of the foster care system.

When a foster parent is adequately prepared, foster care can be a beautiful and rewarding experience for you and your foster child. However, if you find yourself uncomfortable with some of these points, you may want to consider a more traditional adoption through an agency.

What are the Differences between Private Adoptions and Foster Care Adoptions?

Foster care and adoption differ on overall wait times, predictability and certainty of the process, the child’s age, the degree of birth parent involvement and the overall cost. When planning to grow or start your family through foster care or adoption, you should carefully consider the similarities and differences of each of these points.

Private Adoption Vs. Foster Care Adoption: Wait Times

• Foster Care: from 3 to 5 years after placement.
• Adoption: average 12 months before placement.

Private Adoption

With private adoption, wait times mostly depend on the marketing reach of the agency you choose. Wait times can be as long as two years. The more an agency invests in its marketing, the more predictable and manageable wait times become. Our wait times average about 12 months, with some families finding placement in less than three months.

If you want to grow your family through private adoption, you can start your journey for free today. The quicker you start your process, the quicker you’ll be able to hold your child in your arms.

Foster Care

In foster care situations, foster families must wait for Child Protective Services (CPS) to determine whether a child’s biological parent can work towards providing a better environment for the child. Unfortunately, there’s no way to tell how long this will take. For permanent placement, our estimate is between 3 and 5 years. It should also be mentioned that most foster placements end after, on average, about 12 months.

An important difference in comparing adoption vs foster care is when the child is placed. For private adoptions, you wait on average 12 months before finding a prospective birth mother, then after the birth, your child will come home with you. In foster care situations, a child is placed with you, and then after 3 to 5 years, you will know whether you’ll be able to adopt the child. Once the decision is made, it often takes an additional 6 to 12 months for finalization to complete.

You should also be aware that foster children are typically able to return to their birth parents after about a year, as long as the court deems it appropriate. This is one reason prospective parents seeking more permanent placements may want to consider adoption as an alternative way to help children in need.

Private Adoption Vs. Foster Care Adoption: Certainty

• Foster Care: Very Low.
• Adoption: Mid to High and Fiscal Protection.

Private Adoption

Private adoption can also experience disruptions. Occasionally, a birth mother takes back her decision to place her child after she’s given birth. This is a natural instinct and a valid decision, but it’s also potentially devastating for the intended adoptive parents.

Most adoption agencies have partial financial protection allowing the adoptive couple to try again, and American Adoptions of Indiana even has a risk-sharing program that insures your complete financial investment in the case of a disruption, yet the emotional toll of an interruption like this can be hard for adoptive parents to deal with.

Foster Care

As discussed above, foster care is not meant to be an adoption service. Occasionally fostered children are adopted, and the families that are built in this way are no less loving and no less valid.

We should point out though that parents hoping for a foster care adoption should prepare for possible disappointment. The foster care process is very uncertain when it comes to permanent placement. 

Private Adoption Vs. Foster Care Adoption: Child’s Age

• Foster Care: 0-17.

• Adoption: Placement before birth.

Private Adoption

Private adoptions through American adoptions of Indiana arrange placements for children before they’re born, so the child never has to wait for adoption. When adopting privately, you’re with your child from day one. Placement is completed after birth and confirmed in court a few weeks later.

Foster Care

The foster care system helps find homes for children from newborn infants to 17 years old. A child does not age out of foster care until the age of 18. Though you can indicate some preference in this matter, infant fostering is exceedingly rare. The estimated average age of a child in foster care in Indiana is 8.5 years old.

Private Adoption Vs. Foster Care Adoption: Birth Parent Involvement

• Foster Care:  Typically Not available.
• Adoption: Available and Fully Supported.

Private Adoption

In private adoption, you can choose what kind of relationship you’d like to have with the birth parents of your child. Keeping birth parents involved in a child’s life can help enrich the lived experience of adoption for everyone involved.

Foster Care

In foster care, the involvement of birth parents varies by specific case; however, in the case of an adoption through foster care, involvement from the birth parents will most likely not be possible.

Private Adoption Vs. Foster Care Adoption: Cost

• Foster Care: $3,000 to $5,000
• Adoption: $20,000 to $50,000

Private Adoption

Private adoption is more expensive than adoption through foster care, but it’s not unattainable. There are options to build your ability to fund an adoption. Find out more about securing funding here.

Foster Care

In the event of an adoption through foster care, the state of Indiana will take care of most of the expenses. There are also assistant programs you can apply for to help you post-placement when you adopt through foster care, especially if your child has special needs.

Adoption Vs Foster Care Statistics.

In the last available data sets, only about 20% of fostered children were adopted by their foster parents. Out of that set, nearly half of them were adopted by relatives who were acting as foster parents. In other words, only about 1 in 10 foster placements ended in adoption if the child was biologically related to the foster parents.

Pair this with the fact that the average foster placement lasts for around a year and you start to get a better understanding of what adoption through foster care might really look like for your family.

In contrast, 100% of American Adoption of Indiana families that stay active are placed with a child. Our adoption wait times average around 12 months, and we provide services to help set you, your child, and the birth parent of your child up for success. You don’t have to wait to build the family you deserve.

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Adoption Vs Foster Care FAQ

Why do people foster rather than adopt?

There are plenty of reasons to choose foster care over adoption. The decision will likely come down to your circumstances and end goal. For example, a foster parent may feel that they want to help a child, but for whatever reason not feel ready for a life-long commitment.

Since the average foster child is able to reunite with their biological parents after about a year, this could be a good option for many unsure about their ability to offer long-term care.

Is foster the same as adopted?

No, foster care is not the same as adoption. Foster care is a method to remove a child from a potentially dangerous situation while their biological parents work on improving their environment. Unlike adoptions, which are permanent, foster care is meant to be temporary.

In some extreme cases, foster care can transition into adoption, but this is rare, especially for foster parents who are not related to the child.

Is foster care better for children than an orphanage?

This is a complex question that changes based on the specific situation, but the individualized attention and care, home environment and temporary nature of foster homes would lead most to agree that foster homes have significant benefits over a state-run children’s home, or “orphanage.”

Can newborns be fostered?

Yes, but newborn placement is very rare, and the adoption of a newborn through the foster care system is even rarer. If you are looking into newborn adoption vs foster care, we recommend contacting an adoption agency and moving forward with a domestic adoption.

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