INTERSTATE ADOPTIONS
WANT TO ADOPT
If you are adopting a child out of state, it’s critical that you understand and meet interstate adoption laws. We can help!
After you are Certified to Adopt, you may adopt a child from anywhere in the country. When you adopt a child from another state, the adoption must comply with the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children, or ICPC. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands have enacted this compact.
Before a child born in one state can travel to another state for the purpose of adoption, you must receive approval from both the sending state and the receiving state. State requirements differ regarding the documents that must be submitted to the state’s ICPC administrator.
It is important that you are represented by an attorney, like Kristy or Cory from Stuart & Blackwell, who knows each state’s requirements. The compact administrator for Arizona ICPC will not give approval for a child to come to Arizona unless the adopting parents are Certified as Acceptable to Adopt by our Court and a copy of their home study and court order certifying them is submitted to the ICPC.
The ICPC process cannot start until the birth parents have signed their consents for the adoption and the baby and birth mom have both been discharged from the hospital. From that point, the interstate adoption process can take 3-14 days. If you are adopting a child from another state, you should plan to stay in the sending state for 2 weeks.
Many adopting parents report that having a newborn in a hotel room is very difficult due to the small space and lack of amenities (such as a stove, microwave, refrigerator, rocking chair, etc.). Many recommend renting an apartment or house, if possible.