All children benefit from the opportunity to grow up in a loving family, but not all birth families feel they are able to meet the needs of a child born with Down syndrome.

The National Down Syndrome Adoption Network provides information to birth families who may be seeking alternatives to parenting as they prepare for the arrival of their child. Making an adoption plan for a child with Down syndrome is a loving choice and can be the right choice for some families.

Adoptive families contact the National Down Syndrome Adoption Network when they have a strong desire to adopt a child with Down syndrome. Many of these families have experienced living with and loving a child or an adult with Down syndrome. They may themselves be birth parents or adoptive parents of a child with Down syndrome, they may have worked professionally with a client or student with Down syndrome, or they may have spent time with an individual with Down syndrome in their church or community.

Adoptive families are located all across the United States and Canada. They all must be approved for adoption by a licensed agency in their state of residence.

The National Down Syndrome Adoption Network provides a link as well for public and private agencies that have custody of infants or children with Down syndrome and are seeking adoptive families to provide loving homes for children with Down syndrome of all ages.

The NDSAN can provide the following resources to birth families who may be considering releasing a baby for adoption:

Information on Down syndrome
Information on making an adoption plan
Direct contact with birth parents that have made an adoption plan for a child with DS in the past
There are no fees for any of the services provided by the National Down Syndrome Adoption Network.

Robin Steele is the National Down Syndrome Adoption Network Coordinator. Robin and her husband adopted their first child with Down syndrome over thirty years ago. Their experience in meeting and adopting their daughter Martha greatly influenced their family's journey that now includes four children with Down syndrome.

To contact Jeff Medford please call: (806) 678-4450 or email her at panhandleDSG@yahoo.com