Adoption is a permanent and legal relationship between parents and children. Whether you are seeking a stepparent adoption, the private adoption of an infant or specific child or an adoption of a child from Arizona’s foster care system (Adopting from Foster care Program), Agape will provide you with the training, support, placement assistance and expertise your family deserves.

Agape offers families the choice of being matched with pregnant birth parents (domestic private infant program), or children who have been in foster care in Arizona and currently have a case plan of adoption (Adopting from Foster care program). There are significant differences between both of these programs:

Domestic Private Infant Program

• The wait time for being matched in the domestic private infant adoption program is 2-12 months.
• The expense of adopting through the domestic private infant program starts at approximately $25,000.
• The children matched through the domestic private infant program are infants.

Adopting from Foster care

• The wait time for being matched in the Adopting from Foster care program is 1 month to 2 years
• The expense of adopting through the Adopting from Foster care program is nearly free (due to state subsidies).
• The children matched through the Adopting from Foster care program may be any age between 2 and 17, and may be part of a sibling group that is available for adoption.

If you are interested in meeting some of the foster children who are available for adoption, they are featured on the Adoption Exchange Association. If you are interested in meeting some of the foster children available for adoption in Arizona and are featured in Arizona’s Heart Gallery. There are many additional differences between Agape’s adoption programs. Contact us at (480) 272-7994 today for more information!

Any adult (age 18 or older) resident of this state, whether married, unmarried or legally separated is eligible to qualify to adopt children. A husband and wife may jointly adopt children.

In Arizona adoptive parent(s) must be certified by the court as acceptable to adopt children. A certificate will be issued only after an investigation. The certification process includes:

• written application
• adoption orientation and training
• a certification investigation and report to the court that considers the prospective adoptive parents’ fitness to adopt children and includes:
  • social history and references
  • finances
  • moral fitness
  • physical and mental health
  • any court action regarding child abuse
  • a valid fingerprint clearance card for you and every adult member of your household
  • any other relevant information

If you are adopting a relative and you are the child’s uncle, aunt, adult sibling, grandparent or great-grandparent, you do not have to be certified. You will, however, need to pass a criminal and DCS background check in order to be approved by the court to adopt.

When selecting an adoptive home for a child, workers consider which home would best meet the safety, social, emotional, physical and mental health needs of the child. Other relevant factors include:

• placement with the child’s siblings
• placement with the child’s kin
• existing relationships between the child and the prospective adoptive
• the wishes of the child who is 12 years of age or older.