Foster care can be the first step of a child’s journey toward being adopted, but it isn’t always. Some children who are placed in foster care are eventually reunited with their families; others remain in foster care until they age out, while still others are placed for adoption after their families of origin relinquish parental rights. While children adopted from foster care may have special emotional and physical needs—which parents should mentally prepare themselves for before embarking on their adoption journey—adopting from foster care can be a rewarding (and lower-cost) way to form a family.
For more about forming a family through foster adoption, see Foster Care and Adoption.