OK, now that I’m done being all sappy and such . . .
Attention please! I am sending out the Bat-Signal to all adoptive parents. I need advice!
After researching a ton of adoption agencies, we’ve finally narrowed down our search to either Gladney Center for Adoption or Children’s Home Society & Family Services. I have phone consultations scheduled with both agencies and I still don’t know what questions to ask!
What do you wish you would have known prior to choosing an adoption agency? If you adopted through Gladney or CHSFS, would you use them again? Do you have any positive (or negative) stories you would be willing to share?
Monday, May 26, 2008
Thank you!
Thank you so much to everyone for the incredibly warm welcome! NaComLeavMo rocks!! And who knew the blogging community is so incredibly supportive?? All I can say is “WOW!” Oh, and I suppose I could also bust out my happy dance for ya’.
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23 comments:
My recommendation would be to ask first mothers as well. They see a whole other side of the process and could tell you which agencies were good to them as well.
I suppose I should have said that there are many in the blogosphere that are first mothers that could tell you.
Sam,
That's a great point! I hope first mothers will chime in and provide feedback on their experiences.
Thank you so much for your comment on my blog. The timing was perfect. It's been a rough weekend so your kind words will go a long way. I highly recommend Gladney. They are super professional and I had an awesome experience both times around. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. mquinn_kiheihs@yahoo.com
Well, some questions I asked my adoption agency was how many clients do you have? How many of your staff deals with the country? How many adoptions have gone through you...I always think of more when I'm on the phone. I should write them down, though...
We're going through Christian World Adopt and they're very good, kind and understanding--something you want when you're dealing with very emotional issues such as family and infertilty.
My husband likes them because they're large and because they have a lot of different programs available. They are the 4th largest Not-For-Profit agency and many of the people that work there have adopted. They operate out of North and South Carolina, but they said that most of their clients aren't from there, they deal with their clients over the phone or email. When I was contacting them, I received responses immediately. They did what they said they were going to do.
When I told my husband about you, his curiosity peaked because you said you'd like to adopt from Ethiopia and he's quite interested in that!
Blogging can be a great community. Sometimes it's a little rough getting started, but once you have readers and people who are commenting, it does make blogging so much easier and much more fun to do!
Welcome to the blogging world! I have only been here for a few months and am still awed by the support and advice I receive.
And you arrived just in time for NaComLeavMo - perfect!!
You're bookmarked! Thanks for the mention of my blog on your site, and I'll be sure to check back often to see what you're up to. Best of luck with the adoption, and try not to get too stressed out. That little baby of yours will need you healthy! Take care - SG at www.despitelupus.blogspot.com
I am not familiar with either of these agencies, but I would make sure that they are very fluent and familiar with the country that you choose. Ask how long they have been working with that country? Also, ask how much of the paperchase they help you with. We used an agency that did all of our authentifications, so we did not have to run all over the place trying to get this done. It was definitely a big help!
Good luck and I have added you to my bloglist!
Lisa
These people used Gladney and just completed the adoption of their daughter. http://russianbrown.blogspot.com/ Thanks for the comment!
I'm not an adoptive mother, but I did work briefly for an adoption agency.
I would ask how many placements they have a year and how many families they are currently working with. If they have 50 families and only 10 placements, your wait could be really long.
As adoption blog I enjoy is: http://theygrowinyourheart.blogspot.com/ She also has links to other adoption blogs. It may be worth checking out.
I'm here from NCLM too...isn't the blogosphere a wonderful place? I know nothing of adoption, but will be following your story.
Welcome to the blog world!
We used Children's Hope International and were very happy with them. I've heard wonderful things about Gladney.
For me communication is key when choosing an agency. Between that and making sure they are reputable, non-profit, and working in the countries they are facilitating adoptions from.
Best of luck as you embark on this journey.
Hi~
I just typed a LONG comment and lost here. Here I go again. I stumbled on your blog from another and so it goes in blogland...
I have had RA since I was about 16 years old. They originally thought it was lupus. I know it is so difficult to live with a chronic illness for so many reasons. I hope you are doing well, feeling good, and taking care of yourself as you plan to become a mother.
My husband and I adopted our daughter, Lindy, through Gladney. She is from China. We are using them again for our next daughter. We had nothing but wonderful experiences with them. They are extremely professional and pioneers in the field of adoption. They are conservative, a bit tight-lipped at time in order to manage expectations, but they made everything seamless for us--especially in China! All we had to do was concentrate on being parents because everything else was so simple. I don't know how their Ethiopia program is but I would imagine it would be the high caliber of their other programs. I don't think they start a new program without thorough planning and research.
Best wishes as you embark on this journey. Please don't hesitate to contact me with questions.
All the best~
Lisa
I have no advice/assvice, but I'm glad you've gotten right into the swing of things!
There are yahoo! groups that review adoption agencies - I forget from your post if you're adopting internationally or domestically, but if you're adopting internationally, the group is Adoption_Agency_Research (search under yahoo groups). There is a companion list for domestic (that I'm not aware of). You could ask on those lists for feedback.
Hope that helps - welcome to blogging land -
rachel
catchthetradewinds.wordpress.com
if you want to email me wewillbringthemhome@gmail.com I can send you my very long and detailed email about all the reasons why I think Gladney is an excellent agency. I'm using them again for my second adoption in less than 18 months and I think they are wonderful!
I found your blog through "Family Reunion",and we're adoption transracially through Gladney (are now approved and waiting)
If you live near one of these, I'd recommend going to their orientation-sometimes that 'feeling' is the best guide.
I used to work for Gladney, and knew in a heartbeat where we would go when it was our turn :)
Dear Lupus Pie,
Just posted on a later post, but can't resist this one either.
We used a small China only agency for our two adoptions. Their greatest strength was their amazing facilitator in China and the number of years that they had had a program in the country. Their biggest problem was lack of communication during the wait. Overall, they did a very good job for us but I did suffer from lack of communication during the wait.
I too am an auto-immune sufferer (RA) so I want to support you on that count as well. Hey, I even traveled to China just after SARS while immunosuppressed in order to adopt our second daughter and had the time of my life, so it can be done.
Best wishes as you begin your adoption journey. I'm definitely bookmarking your blog.
moonwater
Gladney all the way! We have been sooo pleased with them. I know several other families that have used Gladney, and we would all use them again. I've talked to other families (in person) in the adoption community that have used other agencies, and they said they would probably use Gladney if they adopt again. I have never heard anyone say a negative thing about Gladney - only positive things!
Also, just to let you know...no one will write anything bad about their agency online. People keep negative comments hush hush so they don't offend their agency. So, if you're not hearing great things about an agency - I would really think twice about using them!
Just my opinions :)
Thank you for leaving me a message! I think that NaComLeaveMo rocks too!!!
I enjoyed reading your blog and will be adding you to my favorite link list!
Keep writing :D
Finally found the link I was looking for about choosing an agency and what questions to ask.
http://foreverparents.com/2008/02/helpful-tips-for-choosing-an-adoption-agency.html
dc,
Hi! I've been through the infertility route too (also premature ovarian failure). We did get lucky with IVF and have a great little guy. We are currently waiting for a court date to travel to Ethiopia for our daughter! I can't recommend Gladney highly enough!! We really researched our options and talked to a lot of agencies and Gladney stood out - especially for Ethiopian adoption. We are completely, totally happy with them!
M.
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