What is the cost to adopt?

The cost to adopt varies dependent upon the program and the services received by the adoptive parents. Call 704-847-0038 for more detailed information. 

Will I lose fees if there’s a failed match/placement?

No, fees are not lost unless a family decides to withdraw from the process altogether. If a situation with a particular matched expectant mother does not work out, a family goes back into the pool of waiting families as they wait to be matched to another situation. 

What is the first step/the process to adopt?

Learn more about what the domestic adoption process looks like here.

What is the average wait time for placement?

Placement varies depending on the openness of the adoptive family. Families who have more limited preferences to gender, race and special needs such as substance exposure during pregnancy tend to wait longer. The profile of the adoptive family also has a bearing on wait time. Childless couples tend to get chosen more quickly. Because CAS limits the number of adoptive families that are accepted into the domestic program at any one time, the waiting period for our families is minimized. Since 2016, the average wait time for placement has been 7 months once a family’s home study/pre-placement assessment was approved. 

Do you work with families outside of the Carolinas?

At this time, our domestic program only places with families that live in North Carolina and South Carolina.  

What age are the children you place?

CAS’ domestic program specializes in infant adoption. However, on occasion older children are placed. 

What types of children do you place?

Through our domestic program, we place children, primarily newborns, of all races, both genders, most of whom are considered healthy and many who are born with some challenges. However, many are able to overcome some of those challenges with the nurture, love and resources provided by adoptive families. 

Can I specify what type of child I’d like to adopt?

Families are allowed to limit their preferences; however, openness to race, gender, health risks, prenatal exposure and other special needs has some bearing on acceptance into our domestic program. Generally, the more open and flexible a family is, the better fit for our program they are. Families do specify their openness and preferences in the application process.

Is open adoption a requirement?

All families who adopt through CAS are trained on the benefits of having openness with birth families who may desire contact or mediated updates. In many arrangements, CAS facilitates the contact due to the preferences of the birth family; however, each case is different and every family who adopts through CAS must be willing to come into the process with an open heart.  We ask adoptive families to honor birth families who desire contact so they will know their child is thriving and doing well. For more on open adoption, we recommend the book “The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption” by Lori Holden. At CAS, we want to love and minister well to everyone we serve, including our birth families. 

What type of training & education do you require?

It is our desire for families to have a firm foundation in which to thrive in their adoption, and we do our best to do the hard work up front in hopes it will make for a smoother future. Therefore, CAS does require education (books & online classes) in the application and home study process as well as a daylong in-person training before placement can occur. We believe that adoption is a journey rather than a one-stop transaction, requiring an investment to prepare for parenting the adopted child well. 

What kind of after-care services and support do you provide families? 

CAS began over 40 years ago and is still going strong. We have a long-standing commitment to the families we serve to be available pre and post-placement. Individual families continue to be part of the larger “CAS Family” by participating in our annual picnics and other events throughout the year. Furthermore, we have online support groups and a network of families who welcome one another into the adoption community.  This supportive environment allows us all to learn and “do life together” as we love each other and our adopted children well. No one has to be on an island alone, together we are better.