When people as about our family’s adoptions, one of the common questions is, “What nationality are your children?”.

People chuckle at my answer. “They’re Americans.”

“Well of course they are, now….but where are they from?”

It’s understandable, because our family spans six ethnicities. They assume we must have adopted internationally. They’re surprised to find out that our children came from Nevada and Florida.

Many people assume it’s easier to adopt from a foreign country than it is from across state lines. It’s not true – in fact, private interstate adoption is very common.  At Zoe’s House, we work with adoptive families nationwide.  Here’s how it works.

You get a local, private adoption home study.  We can help you find out how to locate a social worker in your area who will write the sort of home study needed.

When baby comes, you come to Kansas City.  Our placement licenses are currently for Missouri and Kansas, and we have offices in both states.

We immediately work on ICPC, or the Interstate Compact paperwork.  Adoption laws differ from state to state.  There is much overlap, but there are always a few peculiarities, so the ICPC works to assure you that the legal requirements of both states will be met.   This takes 5-10 business days, so you’ll need to stay in Missouri or Kansas, depending on where your baby was born.  It’s actually a great time to bond with your baby and fortunately, there are a lot of things to see or do on both sides of the state line if you get cabin fever!

Once both states sign off on the ICPC, you’re ready to travel home!   Adoption finalization can happen in your home state or in the state of origin.  We’ll work with you on that decision.  There are advantages to both.

Between getting home and finalization, there will be a few home visits by a social worker. Those visits aren’t scary – they’re just to verify all is well and also help you with questions you may have along the way.  By this time, your social worker has become a family friend and it’s fun to catch up!

So there you have it.  Adopting across state lines happens every day.  Are you ready to get started?