When making the decision to adopt an infant an adopting couple will come across a number of agencies willing to help them in their cause. Some adoption agencies deal only with International adoption, others only domestic and there are those that will work with all forms of adoption. Choosing the correct adoption agency for your situation is critical to a successful and speedy adoption process.
The scenarios that could affect whether an adoption ends successfully or with heartbreak are endless. It is key, when contacting and visiting adoption agencies, to ask important questions in order to logically select the right company to work with.
What are the costs?
Although, not important in the scheme of the emotions surrounding the adoption of an infant, different families have different resources and some agencies have different fees for different situations. The one caveat to be ware of is hidden fees; some adoption agencies tack on at the end or during the process of adoption.
Ask up front a detailed list of every possible fee the agency might charge or will charge. This way you are aware of what the final agency bill might be, or what adoption options you may want to or not want to choose. Also, obtain information from the agency representative as to when certain fees are expected to be paid. During the process of the adoption, many agencies expect funds at certain stages of the procedure.
It is also important to inquire about refunds. Some adoption agencies have a no refund policy; others will refund monies depending on what stage the adoption is at and others refund most or all of the costs paid.
What is their experience?
The number of adoptions they perform will also prove to be critical to the success of the adoption process. If the adoption agency handles a mind boggling number of adoptions each year they may not be able to provide the quality of support and service one would expect from an agency. Of course, if this is the case and they employ an equally high number of competent associates.
On the flip side of over extending themselves, some adoption agencies do not perform enough adoptions per annum to accrue the kind of experience needed to be able to offer the proper advisement when out of the ordinary circumstances occur. It should be realized, however, that some agencies pride themselves on the fact that even if they do not perform large numbers of adoptions, they provide a higher quality of support.
When discussing the experience of a particular agency, ask for references. Even though privacy is a major concern with most adoptions, there will be a handful of people willing to discuss their experiences with the agency.
What is the average wait time?
For most parents looking to adopt an infant, this is the most important question to ask. Adoptive parents have already made the decision to adopt and sometimes the wait can seem like the most difficult aspect of the entire process.
Most adoption agencies will have this information directly in hand and often take pride in the fact that their wait times are shorter than those of other agencies. However, simply because an agency purports a short waiting period does not mean they are the best adoption agency to deal with.
It is important to not solely base the decision of what adoption agency to choose simply because their wait period is shorter than their competitors. Take into account what steps and procedures each uses, it could be the one agency has a shorter wait time than another because they skip over valuable aspects of the adoption process.
Christian International Adoption Agency
It was March of 1996 that the first draft of this checklist was placed online. It has been used by thousands since then and, with the feedback received since 1996, it has been shortened and simplified. There are now 5 questions most easily answered by using the yellow pages, or other agency advertisements such as web pages, and then 11 questions that will probably require a phone call to the agency. There is no difference if you are placing a child you are expecting or if you are wanting to adopt a child into your family. Either way you must select the agency very carefully for the sake of your child.
You must also be concerned as to how the adopting parents of your child, or the birthmother of your child, will be treated by the agency you select. It is a VERY important decision.
As you are calling agencies and asking questions about the issues from this checklist, it is very possible that the staff will recognize that you are using this checklist. Do not let that distract you from the critical issues addressed in the checklist. Just acknowledge that you are using the "openadoption.org checklist" and that you want to go over the issues one by one. The issues are infinitely more important than the source of the checklist you are using. The way agency staff treat you, and your concerns, will tell you as much about an agency as the written agency policies.
A PDF copy of the Adoption Agency Selection Checklist for printing can be found at www.openadoption.org/checklst.htm It will print out to one page and have 4 columns to compare multiple agencies. You may then take notes on the printed copy as you study agency advertisements and call agencies.
Adoption Agency Selection Checklist
After studying the www.openadoption.org web pages to understand the issues involved, this form can be used to compare four agencies. The more ?Yes? answers to the questions that follow the better an agency is. Few agencies will get ?Yes? answers to all 16 questions, and some questions are more important.
1. Do the agency web site & advertisements make it clear that the agency only does fully open, fully identified adoptions?
2. Is this agency easy to drive to from your home?
3. Do you have a friend who knows or has used this agency and gives it a very high recommendation?
4. Are there other agencies in your local yellow pages who have much larger yellow page ads under the adoption heading?
5. Is the agency a church affiliated agency or is it over 30 years old?
Most of the above questions can be answered from agency web sites, yellow pages, and other advertisements without calling the agency. The questions below will probably require a call to the agency, but count it as extra good if positive answers can be found in agency advertisements. Count it as negative if there is any hesitation by agency staff on the phone in answering these questions.
6. Does the agency encourage maternity client parenting and offer free support and guidance in parenting?
7. Did agency staff accurately define open adoption as involving no secrets between birth and adopting families, and ongoing, direct, in person contact between them?
8. Did agency staff make it clear that they prefer to do fully open adoptions and rarely, if at all, will they serve an adopting family wanting less than a fully open adoption?
9. Does the agency strongly recommend, or even require, several counseling sessions by their staff before a maternity client starts considering the selection of a family for their child?
10. Does the agency always allow maternity clients selecting a family for their child to be able study every waiting family available through the agency for their child, and almost never limits maternity clients to selecting from a few waiting families chosen by agency staff?
11. Does the agency encourage matching between birth and adopting families who live close enough to each other for easy visits?
12. Does the agency have resumes by families adopting that are fully identified, with full names and addresses as well as local phone numbers on them, freely available for the selection process?
13. Does the agency provide a copy of their adopting parent fee agreement with clearly stated policies both about refunds and that donations cannot be accepted during the adoption process?
14. Does the original fee amount also cover all birthmother expenses anticipated with the agency paying any extra expenses?
15. Is agency a member of the Child Welfare League of America?
16. Is the race of the child expected one of the last questions asked?
Both Matt Ryan & Bill Betzen are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Bill Betzen has sinced written about articles on various topics from Family Concerns. Email bbetzen@openadoption.org with any questions or comments. - Bill Betzen LMSW(Emeritus), Child placement social worker for 28 years with ten years spent expanding infant adoption services through open adoption. Active in supporting adoptee rights legi. Bill Betzen's top article generates over 480 views. to your Favourites.
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