2. Adoption should be allowed because everyone deserves a family.

3. If they qualify, they should be allowed. They go through the same process as everyone else.

4. Single parent adoption has increased over the past decade. 25% of special need adoptions are by a single person.

5. Process of adopting a child who either resides in or is a resident of the same country in which you reside.

6. Can be intrastate or interstate (within the same state or involving more than one state). Can be an open, closed, or a combination of both.

7. Birth mother and adopting family live in different countries.

8. Expectant parents meet potential adoptive families before making their selection. T here may be ongoing contact: A ttending birth of child and physician visits together. V isiting the home and gathering as extended family members.

9. Adoptive parents accept birthparents participation as a way to enhance their parenting and the life of their child. Based on trust and an honest relationship between the adoptive parents and birth parents.

10. Means you are proud adoptive parents; treasuring your baby or child knowing you have been chosen to parent this little one for a lifetime.

11. “Couple from 16 and pregnant”

12. Soon after hearing their surprise pregnancy, the couple settled on their plan for adoption. “Me and Catelynn know we could have taken care of her,” said Tyler. “but why risk your child maybe being in a bad situation?”

13. Catelynn wanted to “break the cycle” of instability she grew up in. “My mother never had money and I was always having to move. I wanted her to be raised from 1 to 18 in the same household.

14. They had the support of his mother and their friends, but his father and her mother (who were dating and got married) were against it.

15. They worked with an adoption agency and chose Brandon and Teresa, a couple from North Carolina, to be the adoptive parents.

16. “We wanted to take her home but we know she’s going to have such a good life,” said Tyler.

17. As part of their semi-open adoption, Brandon and Teresa send photos of Carly every three months. They communicate with the teens every few weeks.

18. After Carly’s first birthday, they’ll officially send updates twice a year. “It’s almost like they’re family,” says Tyler.

19. They’re back in high school for Senior year and are stronger than ever. “Having to make such an adult decision at 17 years old brought us way closer,” Catelynn says.

20. “I can’t wait to be a dad,” says Tyler. “But not anytime soon!”