You’ve decided to place your baby for adoption and you have chosen if you want to place through an agency, facilitator, or do the adoption privately. Now it is time to start weeding through parent profiles and make the most important decision of your life: who will parent your child.

There are lots of things to consider when choosing adoptive parents for your child. These are just a few that you may want to think about.

Faith – Did you grow up in a religion that is important to you? Do you practice a religion that is important to you now? Maybe you don’t practice any faith and want your child to grow up being comfortable with that as well.

Have the potential adoptive parents come to terms with their infertility? - While I believe this is an ongoing process that lasts forever, it is still important that in some way, shape, or form, the people that you choose to adopt your child have come to grips with this very hard reality. You want them to treat your child as their own, not as a replacement for a could have been child, so make sure you ask this very hard question and think long and hard about their answer.

What kind of education do they have? – If education is something that is important to you, ask about it. If you don’t want high school drop outs raising your child, make sure you ask them what level of education they have attained.

How do they feel about education? - Do they plan on sending their child to private or public school? Maybe they plan on home schooling. How do they feel about higher education? Is vocational school or a college or university education important to them?

Where do they live? – Do you want your child to grow up near you so visits are easy? Maybe you grew up in a city and want your child to as well. Maybe farm life is what you would like for your child. This is another important question to ask.

What kind of contact are they hoping for? – If you want a fully disclosed open adoption and the potential couple only wants semi open then they aren’t the couple for you. This is something you can’t compromise on at all. Both you and the potential adoptive parents need to be in agreement on this one or there will be major problems down the line and you will feel let down and used.

These certainly aren’t all of the important things to consider, but definitely some of them. Everyone has his or her own personal concerns and beliefs. Don’t be afraid to ask any question you need to ask. Remember this is an important decision and not one to take lightly.