Infant Adoption
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Interested in adoption or post adoption services? Then attend our Adoption Power Hour in Omaha or Lincoln .

LFS strives to recruit and prepare the best possible adoptive families for the limited number of adoptive placements we facilitate.
(Read how the Krueger family opened its home and hearts to have the family of its dreams, and the words of an adoptive parent reminiscing about past and current joys her adopted son brings!)

We screen prospective adoptive families who meet the eligibility requirements of the program through questionnaires and personal interviews. These methods assist us in reviewing a family's resolution of infertility, education on adoption issues, awareness of parenting issues, and commitment to the spirit of openness in adoption.

Other factors considered include community of residence, other children, the need for additional families willing to accept non-Caucasian children or children with special needs, and the number of actively waiting families needed in the program.

We strive to have approximately 15 adoptive families at any given time in order to assure a diversity of families available for review by birth parents.

The specific steps in the admission process are as follows:

1. The prospective adoptive family inquires about adoption and receives a letter about our program. The family may also return a Pre-Adopt Meeting Request over the internet.
   
   
2. A pre-adopt meeting is then arranged with a pregnancy and adoption therapist for eligible families.
   
   
3. The family attends a pre-adopt meeting in the Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska adoption office nearest their home. At this meeting the family is presented detailed information on the agency's philosophy, program fees, open adoption, and a typical process for Agency adoptive families.
   
   Families are also encouraged to educate themselves about adoption issues and openness through:
   
   • Books, workshops and other avenues
   • Contacting other families in open adoptions
   • Asking questions

   Each prospective adoptive family will be given an application which they submit when they are ready to proceed.
   
   

4. Upon receipt of the application, LFS provides the family a questionnaire. This questionnaire helps prospective adoptive families evaluate their attitudes about adoption and openness. There are no right or wrong answers - the questions are designed to prompt thinking about various aspects of parenting and adoption.
   
   
5. After LFS receives the questionnaire, the family will be invited to meet the Adoption Program Administrator and Clinical Supervisor. At this meeting, our Adoption staff will gather more information about they family. This meeting is usually conducted in the Omaha office.
   
   
6. Within ten days of this meeting, a decision will be made whether the family will begin the homestudy process. Families will be informed by a phone call from the Program Administrator or the Clinical Supervisor. Families not selected will be offered suggestions on how they might better prepare themselves for adoption and the next admission review process. Families not admitted will be encouraged to further educate themselves and to reapply to the program.

For more information on agency adoptions, call (402) 661-7100 in Omaha, or (800) 267-9876.