Pregnant women consider adoption for all kinds of reasons. The reasons vary as much as the women themselves. So too do the places they turn to when they’re looking for a loving adoptive family to adopt their baby.
In the past, a pregnant woman had limited choices to connect with adoptive parents due to reasons ranging from geography to accessibility. Typically, an adoption agency was the only avenue available. The expectant mother would come into an office where an adoption worker would present her with profiles of a few hopeful adoptive families. She would then choose the one that best fit her criteria.
Technology, however, has opened up new opportunities for both expectant parents and adoptive parents when it comes to connecting. Nowadays, an online adoption match is just a click away. On the web and off, expectant mothers can literally be all over the map, with more places and platforms to choose from and more ways to find adopting parents for their babies than ever before.
Connecting with an expectant mother considering adoption
Making an open adoption connection with an woman with an unplanned pregnancy and finding a match relies on a number of different factors, not to mention good old-fashioned luck — like being at the right place at the right time. But given the vast array of tools available today, many of which are free, it also relies on hopeful adoptive parents being creative and proactive to get a leg up in their networking efforts. So if you’re hoping to adopt, here are 41 ways you can be found by a pregnant woman considering adoption.
1. Create an adoption website
2. Start a blog
3. Create a YouTube video
4. Add a link to your website on your email signature
5. Pin family-related photos and inspirational keyword-rich messages on Pinterest
6. Sign up with adoption agencies with no upfront fees
7. Explore adoption facilitators
8. Contribute a story to your adoption agency’s newsletter
9. Connect with adoption influencers on Twitter
10. Place an adopting announcement on Craigslist
11. Launch an Adwords campaign
12. Submit articles to social bookmarking websites
13. Leave comments on adoption blogs
14. Post your parent profile on online parent profile services
15. Submit your adopting story to your local paper
16. Add social sharing buttons to your website
17. Check in regularly with your agency about possible adoption situations
18. Guest blog on popular adopting sites
19. Optimize your website for Google and Bing
20. Share profile updates on Tumblr
21. Add your website to online directories
22. Get interviewed for an adoption podcast
23. Post a notice at the grocery store, the laundromat, cafes and bookstores
24. Join an open adoption discussion group
25. Set up a profile on Google Analytics
26. Create an open adoption page on Facebook
27. Place an ad in your community paper
28. Ask and answer adopting questions on Quora
29. Share your adoption story with your local TV station
30. Create and distribute business cards
31. Run ads in campus newspapers
32. Upload tagged photos to Instagram
33. Write an article about your adoption journey for your church bulletin
34. Explore websites where you can post your parent profile for free
35. Write letters to local obstetricians, gynecologists and pregnancy crisis centers
36. Tell your adopting story to your local radio station
37. Include an adopting announcement in your holiday cards
38. Hand out adoption pass-along cards
39. Include an adopting notice in your mail correspondence
40. Share your parent profile video on video distribution sites
41. Tell everyone you know that you’re hoping to adopt
A pregnant woman considering adoption has more places than ever at her disposal to find a family for her baby. Knowing that a match can happen anywhere at any time, adopting parents need to do whatever they can to explore new avenues where they spread their message easily and often. By being resourceful and reaching out on a consistent basis, you can shorten your wait time and turn your adoption dream into a reality.
What are some of the things you’re doing to get found by a pregnant woman considering adoption? What place and platforms online and off are you looking at to make a connection? Leave your comments in the space below.
Learn more about our adoption profile plans.