Families may be contracted with private agencies or attorneys to fill this role. Pre-adoption placements can be made immediately after birth and straight from the hospital. For tiny, healthy babies it may simply be a couple of weeks or months. But if there are suspicions of mental or physical problems, the wait before placement may be significantly longer, until the diagnosis has been made and a special adoptive family is found. The amount of contact with birthfamily members will depend on individual arrangements.
Credits: This article includes materials prepared by Roger R. Fenton