So you’ve decided that adoption is the way you’re going to welcome a child into your family. Now, how exactly does this process work? There are so many questions to answer just to get started that it can feel overwhelming: Should you go through an agency or use an attorney? Would you consider fostering a child? Do you want an open relationship with the birth parents? How will you afford the fees? Okay, take a deep breath. Domestic adoption can happen one of three ways. You can hire a lawyer and make it a totally private affair. You can adopt through an agency. Or you can go through the foster system. While each has its pros and cons, the biggest difference is in how you find the potential birth mother. Agencies typically locate birth parents and offer them adoptive-parent profiles to choose from. Attorneys either teach their clients how to locate birth parents or provide them with people who can help them. With foster care, children in the system are often there because their birth family has been deemed unfit due to neglect, abuse or other issues.