Get a lawyer, set up a website, create an advertising budget. These may sound like steps needed to launch a business venture, but this is actually the advice professionals give to people looking to adopt a newborn in the U.S.
When my husband and I started to look into adoption, we didn’t realize we would have to be proactive in the process. We were baffled by the idea of self-promotion, but both our adoption attorney and licensed agency were adamant that we get ourselves “out there” to attract someone who might be considering an adoption.
More and more, the “match” between an expectant parent and a prospective adoptive one is done without the intermediation of a licensed agency, in what is known as an “independent” adoption. Our agency noted that around 65% of annual placements of newborns were identified adoptions, meaning the adoptive family had found the birth family through their own advertising.
Oh, and great job of reinforcing stereotypes of birth parents: "Brace yourself for getting some exposure to a diverse group of expectant parents. We were contacted by a sex worker, a junkie, a high-school student, a homeless woman, a single mother of four, to name a few situations. And of course, there were cases of expectant families looking to make the most of an unplanned situation." Sigh.
4 comments:
I second your "sigh."
Sigh.
Ugh! It is fine for PAPs to advertise LOOKING for a baby, but if a mother advertizes looking for adoptive parents, it is considered a CRIM and she will be prosecuted. It seems to me that it is wrong, EITHER way!
Actually, in some states like Connecticut, advertising for a birth mother is allowed, but the advertising should only be done by legitimate agencies in Georgia. The best way to go about this is to check state laws before even planning to advertise. It would be also advisable if one simply resorts to making adoption placements through public or private agencies.
Aiko Dumas
It is funny how I really could relate to the first part of the post but like you, strongly disliked the stereotypes. Adoption definitely feels like a business endeavor at some points. I know for myself and my wife, we adopted out of the country and along with some of the things mentioned we also had to use a translation company to help with the process. It was pretty instrumental to our success in finding our daughter. Unfortunately the article took a turn for the worse with the stereotypes mentioned.
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