Our Blog

  • Embracing My Inner Adopted Child

    This guest post is by Juliana Whitney, an adoptee and adoption advocate. Let me be real with you 100%. I consider myself to be introspective and due to education and over a decade of therapy I consider myself to have a pretty thorough and well-rounded understanding of what it is to be an adoptee. What we feel, what we are triggered by, and why. I also consider myself to have a healthy level of empathy so even if an adoptee

  • Looking On The Bright Side As We Wait For An Open Adoption Match

    This guest post is by Nicole, a hopeful adoptive mother and blogger. The adoption journey for us so far has been an interesting one. We knew that if we wanted to have a family we’d adopt because I didn’t want to do IVF. Well, that is much easier said than done. At the time we were first investigating adoption options, we kept hitting road blocks. Like the agency was closed or they only did closed adoptions. We wanted at the very least a

  • 7 Things I Would Tell My “Just Beginning the Adoption Process” Self

    This guest post is by Lisa Raymond, an adoptive mother and adoptee. I am the proud momma to three children who are the loves and joys of my life. My darlings all came to me through adoption. Having been adopted myself, I somehow felt prepared as my husband and I began the process ourselves. What I learned was, I wasn’t. Some things were much harder than I expected and others could have been easier had I known a little more. It took me a

  • Meeting The Adoptive Parents For The First Time Before The Adoption

    Meeting your baby’s adoptive parents for the first time can feel like a job interview. But it’s more like a date. You’ll want to like them. But you’ll also want them to like you. And yet as with any date, there are things you can do to make your first meeting a success and build your relationship before an open adoption.

  • Questions Expectant Parents Should Ask Adoptive Parents

    If you’re pregnant and looking at open adoption, one of the things you get to do is choose adoptive parents for your baby. And, as part of the process, that includes asking them questions. As great as that sounds, it’s not easy. You don’t want to pick any old family to raise your child — you want to pick the right one. So how do you do it? Is there something you can do now, before the adoption, to help you

  • How Do I Find A Birthmother?

    “How do I find a birthmother?” hopeful adoptive parents will ask. “Do you mean a prospective birthmother?” I’ll say. I don’t mean to  be difficult. I just want to want to make sure we’re talking about the same thing. “Yeah, you know, a person who’s giving her baby up for adoption.” “In that case, you do mean a prospective birthmother.” Birthmother. Prospective birthmother. They sound similar. And yet they’re world’s apart.

  • 9 Signs The Adoptive Parents Will Close Your Adoption — And What You Can Do About It Before Placement

    Finding adoptive parents for your baby can be a rewarding experience if you find yourself unexpectedly pregnant and decide you’re not ready to parent. But as with any big life-changing decision, there is no guarantee that everything will go according to plan. Things change, and people do, too. For instance, right now, before the placement, the adoptive parents you’ve chosen may want lots of openness in your relationship (phone calls, emails, visits, etc.). But after the adoption gets finalized, they

  • Your Online Adoption Profile Is A Hit. A Prospective Birthmother Calls. Now What?

    Have you posted your adoption profile online? Are you waiting for a prospective birthmother to call? Do you know what to say to her when she does? If you don’t, you’re not alone. Starting a conversation with someone who calls you out of the blue is never easy. But when that someone happens to be the one person in the world who can make your adoption dream come true, it’s even extra nerve-wracking. Luckily there are things you can say and do to make the most

  • 3 Things Expectant Mothers Look For When Choosing Adoptive Parents

    I’ve never been very good at mind reading. But I found myself doing a lot of it back when we were adopting. We had just finished our home study and had completed our education and training courses. All the paperwork and preparation was behind us. There was only thing left to do: find an expectant mother who was looking for adoptive parents for her baby. That was all fine and good except for one thing: Despite all of the courses I

  • How to Stay Hopeful When You’re Hoping to Adopt a Baby

      Few events in life can compare to the joy of adopting a baby. Having a baby placed in your arms is for many adoptive parents the culmination of a lifelong dream. But the journey you have to undergo to get there can be a slog. From making peace with your infertility to sharing personal details about your health, finances and relationships, staying upbeat and positive can be a challenge. Particularly if your journey feels like it’s consisted of nothing more than moving from one waiting