If you have decided that you want to adopt, you need to figure out whether you want to adopt an infant or an older child. You also need to decide on where you would like to adopt the baby from.

The first thing you will want to do after making the decision to adopt is to educate yourself about adoption. Read books on how to adopt and search the government adoption gateways.

Requirements for adoptive parents vary depending on the type of adoption and agency involved. In the United States, because there are few infants available, agency criteria for prospective adoptive parents are often more restrictive for infant adoptions than for adoptions of older children.

Many adoption agencies even set age limit for the adoptive parents. In other words, you can’t be too old to adopt infants. In general, it is easier to adopt older children, whether in the US or abroad.

Source: The Department of Health and Human Services