Welcome to the world of Adoption...

International Child Foundation is a state licensed and Hague Accredited non-profit adoption agency. We serve children who need families throughout the US and all over the world, as well as in our home state, Arizona. ABC Adoption Services is the name of our domestic adoption program.

Our philosophy is that every child deserves a loving family and that every family deserves an agency they can trust. We have helped many families become parents to children... helped them learn about adoption and prepare to bring a new child into their home.

We welcome birthmothers or birthparents to call. Services to birthmothers are entirely free. Counseling and planning for your child is our priority. If you choose to place your child for adoption, we have wonderful, caring and open-hearted parents waiting to love your child as their own. We are very good about helping birthmothers and fathers explore their options and come to a decision about what they feel in their heart would be best for their child. Adoptive families may request open, semi-open or closed adoptions.

International adoption is an essential option for children worldwide, who face a bleak future without loving families.

Children are relinquished, abandoned and orphaned all over the world. Poverty, illness, social stigma, broken families all contribute to why a birthmother and father would choose adoption for their child. Many countries still have severe social stigmas about single mothers. A child born out of wedlock may result in the birthmother, child and extended family being shamed and rejected by the community. Our mission, through our families, is to provide the best possible opportunity for a child to grow up in an atmosphere of love and acceptance.

In adoption, it takes many people to form a family. Birthparents, adoptive parents, agency staff and a host of government personnel, all working together to ensure a bright future. All working together to protect the rights of the child and comply with the laws of the US or foreign country.

Our goals are...
To help adoptive families understand the process and become ready to adopt;
to help birthmothers and fathers understand the process, their options and their rights;
To listen carefully to the needs and desires of all parties;
To provide honest information and guidance;
To support parents and children throughout the process and after the adoption is complete;
To teach adoptive parents about becoming multi-cultural, multi-racial families so that they can raise children with pride and confidence who will grow up and change the world for the better.

Our services include...
Arizona Adoption Home Study Certifications ~ Home study fees are $750 for step-parent adoption, $1100 for domestic or non-Hague international adoption and $1250 for Hague Convention adoption. Our home study fees are lower than or competitive with other agencies in Arizona; we believe adoption should be affordable. All home studies are expedited at no additional charge.

Domestic Adoption ~ our ABC Adoption Services program is geared to be personal and affordable. We are open to married couples and single parents. The registration fee is reasonable, $1500, and includes the agency application fee, and no additional fees are due until you are matched with a birthmother. See the full program description through the USA Adoption link above. We can also assist families considering Embryo Adoption in conjunction with our partner agency.

International Adoption ~ our international adoption programs include Hague Convention and non-Hague Convention countries. Each country is different and the regulations change frequently. Each International Child Foundation program is described via the links above. We can also email international adoption program guides and cost estimates.

While over the years we have seen many countries suspend or restrict adoptions, there are always orphaned children in need of families, waiting. Please contact us for information about any country and we will bring you up-to-date and let you know if we have a resource or partner agency that can help with your international adoption. We can refer families to agencies that work with Congo, Ethiopia, Colombia, Japan, Taiwan and Bulgaria, and others, for international adoption.

Weekly Adoption Updates ~ this service is free and available to all families interested in adoption. Just sign-up to receive news about many countries, tips, adoption books and education, photos of children coming home and information about our humanitarian aid programs.

Adoption Education ~ we offer seminars in Phoenix and Tucson and occasionally in other states, as well. Open to the public and informative, these seminars may be applied toward adoption education requirements. Adoptive parents are required (by the state and the Hague Convention) to complete a minimum of ten credit hours.

Our Commitments ~ honesty, compassion, straightforward information, a listening ear, empathy, expertise, integrity. Families find us to be supportive and knowledgeable and to have a sense of humor as well as being serious about adoption! We're human, many of us are adoptive parents, we truly want to help children find forever families, help birthparents make choices that feel right to them, and adoptive parents enter into adoption as prepared as possible.

We recommend these great books for adoptive families...
Adoption Parenting by Jean MacLeod & Sheena Macrae
Raising Adopted Children by Lois Ruskai Melina
The Boy Who was Raised as a Dog by Bruce Perry, MD
There is No Me without You by Melissa Fay Greene
Holding Time by Martha Welch, MD
The Weaver's Craft by Mary Hopkins-Best
Nuturing Adoptions by Deborah D. Gray
The Connected Child by Karyn Purvis, PhD, David Cross & Wendy Lyons Sunshine

We believe our destiny as humans rests on our ability to love each other as brothers and sisters. Adoption creates families from across the US and many parts of the globe, mixing heritage and culture, bringing the world together. Adoption expands our identities and widens our horizons.