As co-president of the New York City chapter of the nation's largest adoption support group, co-editor for an adoption newsletter, and former host of a weekly adoption-related radio program, Richard Mintzer is an expert in the process of adoption. This comprehensive and reassuring book combines Mintzer's own expertise with anecdotal advice from adoptive parents to help anyone who is considering adoption to make well-informed decisions. It also discusses how to best evaluate adoption agencies and attorneys, and goes through the home study process and the finances needed to make adoption work. Mintzer provides essential information and takes readers through the questions potential parents face when choosing to adopt, including: choosing between a domestic or international adoption, choosing a newborn or an older child, and working with an agency or adopting through independent placement. Many key questions are answered: For which families is open adoption the right choice? Where can a child be adopted by gay parents? What costs and fees are associated with adoption? How can adoption fraud be avoided? How will adoption affect a family's finances? These questions and many others are answered with the credible information every potential parent needs when approaching this challenging process.