There’s a new article in the About.com’s Adoption section all about adoption agencies. The article is geared towards expectant mothers considering adoption and hopeful adoptive couples each looking for adoption agencies to work with. It contains advice from a birthmother and an adoptive mother. It tells you warning signs to look out for letting you know that a particular agency might not be so good and positive signs that point out... more

I’ve touched on this before, but think it’s worth touching on it again. If you are pregnant and making an adoption plan, one of your options is to go through an adoption agency. Finding a reputable and ethical adoption agency can be tricky.

If you are wanting an open adoption, you need to make sure the agency you are choosing handles open adoptions. Some agencies may claim to handle fully open adoptions, but then in reality, they encourage more of a semi open adoption. If you get a bad vibe from an agency or they don’t seem to offer what you are... more

When you are considering making an adoption plan or if you are actively participating in making one, you will begin to think about openness and the amount of openness and contact you may want in an adoption plan. There’s a lot to think about!

So I thought it might be wise to go over some of the things you should think about. When you are in the midst of making an adoption plan it can be overwhelming and your mind may skip over some of the details. Aspects of the list below are not for everyone and are personal decisions that you must make regarding what you... more

Continued from Part 1

What happens next? These profiles are only meant to give you a glimpse of the prospective adoptive family. Typically an expectant mother will make initial choices from the profiles, and then may choose to communicate with the prospective adoptive parents via email or phone asking questions and getting to know them better. When all are comfortable, a face to face meeting can be set up. Usually an... more

Now that you've given some thought to what type of adoptive parents you want for your child, you may be curious to know the process of selecting a family. The process for most agencies is pretty similar, so I’ll describe a typical selection process, although depending on the agency or attorney you are working with, it may vary slightly.

How will I select a family? Once you choose to make an adoption plan, the agency or attorney you are working with, will probably have you start looking at family profiles and “dear birthmom letters”... more

Continued from Part 1 Is it important to me that my baby have a stay at home parent? Again for some young mothers choosing adoption, this is may be very important to them as it is another thing they can not give them. And for others, a stay at home parent is not quite as important. Some expectant mothers may have longed for a stay at home Mom growing up and may want their child to have a stay at home Mom.

Do... more

If you are making an adoption plan, you have probably been thinking a little on what type of family you would like for your baby. When choosing an adoptive family, there are many things to consider. Unlike the birthmothers of earlier years who had no say so in the family that would be raising their child, in this era, YOU get to decide the type of family you want to raise your child and YOU get to select them.

Before beginning the selection process, you should think long and hard about what type of family you are looking for. What characteristics... more

Post Adoption Contact Agreements (try saying that three times fast) are written communication agreements between expectant mothers and/or fathers and prospective adoptive parents that detail contact between them after the finalization of the adoption. They are not legally binding or legally enforceable but yet I view them as a step in the right direction. Ultimately they can’t withstand without legal action, but at least they are become more common, viewed, used, etc. which in my opinion is at least taking one step forward.

Post Adoption Contact... more

Continued from yesterday's post.....

Below are a few aspects of the importance of open adoption.

Provides a link to the child’s biological family - At some point in his or her life, your child will probably want to know about their biological family, why they were placed for adoption, who they look like, etc.. In open adoptions, the birth parents are there ready to answer questions when the child is ready to ask them. Adoption shouldn’t... more

Recently, I have posted about open adoption and tried to define what an open adoption typically consists of. I believe that open adoptions are beneficial to the children, in most cases. As I’ve said before, there are varying levels of open adoption and open adoptions are not legally binding.

Adoption is a life altering experience for all those involved. It is thought that open adoption makes the pain, grief, and loss issues less severe for each... more