Adoption Agency Reviews

One of the members at our adoption forums shared a website where you can post a review (or read what others have said) about the adoption agency you worked with. I would encourage all parents who adopted through an agency to consider sharing your experience with others. It looks like you can post anonymously if you feel more comfortable doing so. Birth parents are also welcomed to leave a review of their experience. I hope to...

10 Things Your Adoption Agency Won’t Tell Yo...

By Michele Marchetti 1. “Want to adopt? You’re on your own.” Adoption may seem an altruistic endeavor, but it’s also a big business and a loosely regulated one. “Nobody’s watching for cheaters,” says Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and author of Adoption Nation. Adoption has always been a local, not federal, issue, and statutes governing...

Thinking About Adoption?

The co-administrator at our adoptions forums has adopted eight times and she is someone that I personally admire for her willingness to always help those new to adoption. Here are some questions and concerns she compiled for pre-adoptive people to discuss and familiarize themselves with, even before beginning the process. 1. Make sure that you’re ready to adopt a child/baby that isn’t biologically yours. If you...

15 Questions To Ask Before Adopting Older Children

Adopting older children is not for the faint of heart. I have three children that we adopted at the ages of 5, 8 & 11 and if anything, it’s never boring. Linny, the co-administrator at our adoption forums compiled a list of honest, informative questions to ask before you adopt an older child through the foster care system. “My dh and I have adopted seven children to date. However, our ‘forever...

Financing an Adoption

Home equity loans for adoptions Bob Tedeschi, New York Times For adoptive parents, bringing a new baby into the home can be costly. One national bank has begun helping such families more easily afford the financial burdens of adoption by tapping into their home equity. Chase, a division of JPMorgan Chase & Co., last month introduced New Additions, a program that offers adoptive parents a discounted home-equity loan....

Financing An Adoption

Adoption can be very costly (with the exception of adopting through foster care) and we asked our adoption forum members for advice on how they financed their adoption. ** We’re saving, saving, saving. If we wait as long as our agency says the average is–15-18 months–we’ll have enough to cover agency fees and probably attorney costs by the time the baby is born. If it happens sooner, we’ll use...

comment question

Ali said… I am so glad I stumbled across your blog! First of all, your picture is wonderful. Those kids are very fortunate to be involved with the foster parents like that.Second, I have been looking into adoption recently, and was discouraged about the costs. I would love any kind of advice, or information about making it more affordable. How can a lower income family afford...

Using Advertising and Facilitators in Adoptive Pla...

Many people choose to adopt, and many birth parents choose to place their children for adoption, without the involvement of an agency. These placements are known as private placements or independent adoptions. Private placement is often preferred by people who want to adopt newborn infants from the United States and avoid the often years-long waiting lists of adoption agencies. The challenge for prospective adoptive parents...

Birthmother Scams

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” — Anonymous Warning signs of potential birthparent scams: One sign alone does not mean you are being scammed. It is the combination of several and your instincts that should make you leary. A favorite ploy is for a scam artist is to fix you up with a “friend”. That person might pose as an adoptive parent or adoption professional. If this “friend”...

Adoption Agency Fraud

The following information was compiled through various online sources. It covers ways to protect yourself against potential agency fraud. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” — Anonymous Agency Fraud (domestic & international): Get references and contact them. Get references who are at different stages in the process and who have completed adoptions at different times. This is important to...

Adoption Homestudy

  Danielle commented in the adoption homestudy post and I wanted to give her, and anybody else who may have the same concerns, some thoughts and ideas that may help.She said: We want to adopt someday, but I am terrified of this process. Given all they look at in the homestudy (which is pretty much everything having to do with anything in your life), how on earth can average people be confident that they will pass? I have...

Helpful Tips For Choosing An Adoption Agency

Choosing an adoption agency can be a mind boggling experience. Forever Parents adoption forum member and pal, Lori Dowd of Best Light Adoption Profile Review shares things to keep in mind while you’re considering which agency to use. Needless to say, this is one of the biggest decisions you face, because you need to go where your child will be. My advice is to follow both your head and your heart. How?First, your...

10 Adoption Profile Tips

One of our adoption forums members, Lori from Best Light Adoption Profile Reviews shares these ten useful tips for anyone putting together their adoption profile. So what makes a profile work? I gathered anecdotal research from birthparents and adoption counselors. While each birthparent comes with a viewpoint as unique as a fingerprint, here are some commonalities I found in what attracts and what doesn’t in a...

Adoption Scams

Adopting a child should be a joyful, positive experience. Unfortunately there will always be those who look to cheat and scam. Use your common sense. One of these signs alone doesn’t mean it’s a scam, but a few should be examined and approached with caution. Birthmother Scams: 1. Usually the motivation for birthmother scams are to take your money. She needs money for rent, food, etc. Only give money to a...

Questions To Ask An Adoption Agency

If you’re just starting out with your adoption journey and are considering using an agency, this printable might come in handy. Questions to Ask an Adoption Agency Share Tags: adoption agency Related posts The Cost Of Adoption In The United States (6) The Adoption Agency/Parent Relationship and its Effect on Attachment (4) Rosie’s

Adoption Homestudy

The Adoption Home Study Process: Factsheet for Families Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway Year Published: 2004 The laws of every State and the District of Columbia require all prospective adoptive parents (no matter how they intend to adopt) to participate in a home study. This process has three purposes: to educate and prepare the adoptive family for adoption, to gather information about the prospective parents...

When Your Partner is Reluctant To Adopt

By Jill SmoloweIt had been a long haul to convince my husband to start a family. When biology failed us, he felt the subject of children was closed. By then past 50, Joe was not interested in raising a child whom he inelegantly described as “someone else’s kid.” That was before we went to China in January 1995 and held an adorable, alert seven-month-old girl, who cast her spell over Joe in about five minutes flat. By...

Couple Uses Billboard To Adopt

Tom and Claire Halverson wanted to adopt a child but after trying unsuccessfully for three years to find a birth mother, they got creative: putting up billboards on the side of the road. The Halversons, of LaPorte, have posted nearly 90 signs across Iowa and Minnesota in the past few weeks. Their handmade, 3-foot-by-4-foot signs direct people to their Web site, http://www.tomhalverson.com/. And it seems to have worked: A...

Complaints about Adoption Services Worldwide

Another couple has come forward, complaining about a San Antonio adoption agency. The husband and wife say they gave Adoption Services Worldwide about $20,000 and got nothing in return. The couple says their only option was to adopt. So, they handed over their life savings. Then two years later and still no baby, the agency called them to say they were closing down. They didn’t get their money back. “You have...

13 Ways To Help Finance An Adoption

When someone starts to consider adoption, one of the first questions they ask is “how much does it cost to adopt a child?” And it’s a question that should be asked because depending on the type of adoption you pursue, it could cost thousands of dollars. Here are 13 tips to help you finance your adoption. 1. Look for ways you can cut back, they may add up to considerable savings. Put that money into a...

Embryo Adoption

Embryo Adoptions Author: Dana Sanders For many couples desperately trying to bear children, infertility is a reality. Usually, a couple with fertility problems attempts many chances at having a biological family—including in vitro fertilizations. Many couples wish to experience the joy of carrying and giving birth to a child, but physically cannot produce a viable embryo. After trying all viable options, many couples give...