Our Blog

  • Why Our Child’s Birthmother Chose Us

    By all accounts, things came easy to Bob and Theresa. They were high school sweethearts with a solid marriage, rewarding careers, and a large circle of friends. But there was one thing that didn’t come so easy: getting chosen by a birthmother. Even though they had done everything they were supposed to — created an adoption website, started a blog, taken out advertisements, and spread the word about their adopting plans on social networking sites — months went by without

  • What Open Adoption Means To Me As A Birth Mom

    This guest post is by Jennilee, a birthmother. I placed my son Spencer 9 ½ years ago in an open adoption. Everyone has differences in their openness but this is what it means to me. An open adoption is a lasting relationship between the birth mom, adoptive parents and child. It can include extended family. You need to have Trust, Respect, Understanding, Honesty, Communication and Love just like you would with any friendship, family or loved one. I trust the

  • From Adoptive Mother To Birth Grandmother: How I Helped My Son Place His Baby For Adoption

    This guest post is by Annette Marietti, an adoptive mother and birth grandmother. I started my open adoption adventure in 1992. Our first match changed her mind a week before the baby boy was due, we had been matched for six months. And so with heavy hearts we started over. I met our son-to-be when a friend, who was a foster parent in Las Vegas, Nevada, came up to Lake Chelan, Washington to visit. He was a sweet quiet tiny

  • Your First Meeting With An Expectant Mother Considering Adoption: Tips For Success

    A little while back a woman seeking to adopt on our site contacted me. She was about to have what she said was the most important meeting of her life and she was freaking out. A job interview? Blind date? Actually, she was about to meet an expectant mother who had contacted her after connecting with her adoption profile. As she described it, this was her big chance to become a parent and she was worried about blowing it. I knew

  • Letting Birth Mothers Know They Are Loved, One Basket At A Time

    Good things come in small packages, so the saying goes. And for women leaving the hospital after placing a baby for adoption, they also come in small baskets. Birth mother baskets. Birth Mother Baskets—the concept and the company, which closed down after this interview was originally published— was started by Gina Crotts after placing her child for adoption. Gina (on the right) says she’ll never forget the overwhelming feeling of loneliness she felt driving home with an empty car seat. She launched

  • Choosing An Adoptive Family For Your Baby: Do’s and Don’ts

    I’m never going to find the right adoptive family for my baby. Nobody will ever love my child as much as I do. What happens if the family I choose doesn’t like me? How do I know I can trust them? Will they judge me? Maybe I should just stop looking and raise my child myself.

  • Transracial Adoption: Expert Advice If You’re Adopting Transracially

    Thanks to high profile adoptions by Angelina Jolie, Sandra Bullock, Madonna and other celebrities, transracial adoption has been into the spotlight.  About 40% of all adoptions in the United States today are transracial. But how easy is it to raise a child of a different race? Are there special considerations that need to be taken? Should he or she be parented in the same way as any other child? When it comes to transracial adoption, many people go into the process

  • Tips On Creating An Adoption Profile Video — And Getting It Noticed

    Telling your story through an parent profile is a great way to reach out to an expectant mother considering adoption. But if you really want to make a splash, video is the way to go. Video profiles are more dynamic and entertaining and enable you to create a more immediate, emotional connection. By weaving together your story, photos and music, a video can give an expectant mother a more complete portrait of your life and your reasons for adopting.

  • How One Birth Mother’s Loss And Pain Has Helped Other Birth Mothers Find Peace And Comfort

    Placing a baby for adoption is often called the ultimate sacrifice. It’s also one of the loneliest. Few experiences in life can compare with the heartbreak of coming home from the hospital empty-handed after carrying a baby for nine months. Ashley Mitchell knows the feeling. Seven years ago she placed her baby for adoption and struggled through all of the ups and downs that came with it. Today, the married Springville, Utah mother of two runs Blessings in A Basket, a non-profit organization

  • Building A Strong Open Adoption Relationship: A Cheat Sheet

    The last I checked there was no operating manual about how to build a strong open adoption relationship. So until that day arrives we’ll just have to rely on Lori Holden’s The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption: Helping Your Child Grow Up Whole, which in my view is the next best thing. Readers of this blog will be familiar with Lori and her book, which was written with the help of her daughter’s birth mother. Earlier this spring, I wrote a book