What do you want your family to be?
After a child is placed with an adoptive family, Massachusetts state law requires that a caseworker visit the child in the new home three times in six months before the adoption can be legally finalized. During this period of adjustment, ARA gathers information on how parents and child are doing together and addresses any concerns. Our goal is to be supportive and resourceful in helping all family members feel comfortable with one another.
After the required six month period has ended, ARA prepares a post placement supervision report and refers you to an attorney who will represent you as you legally finalize your adoption in court.
“Adoption of a same race child would have been enough of a stretch, but we went one step further, with a baby that came out of someone else's body and someone else's culture. When I first met my son, I felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of teaching him things I couldn't possibly know as a white woman...”
– Jana Wolff, Secret Thoughts of an Adoptive Mother
