Adoptive Family Blog

Posted At: 12:00:00 PM | Posted By: Alicia McGarry

A family’s goal when completing the Adoptive Family Questionnaire should be to remain as flexible as possible, while of course, remaining within their own comfort level.


Posted At: 03:35:21 PM | Posted By: American Adoptions

I have a question that perhaps I've asked in the past and have forgotten the answer. I was looking on the website tonight and looked through the sample of birthmoms the agency is currently working with (I realize this is just a few of them and not all of them). My question is this: for birthmoms who are due this summer, at what point will they be matched with an adoptive family? In other words, when a birthmom decides on an adoption plan and signs up with American Adoptions how long will she work with and be counseled by a social worker before selecting an adoptive family? And, once she has selected a family, how long before that family is contacted? It would seem as if quite a few matches would occur within a birthmother's last trimester, that's why I was wondering if its possible that she could be signed up for several months before selecting a family and/or before that family is contacted about the match. Also, adoptive families fill out an APQ which helps their profiles be sent out to birthmoms for consideration. When a birthmom signs up with the agency, what kinds of things is she asked about and what kind of information does she provide?


Posted At: 03:15:19 PM | Posted By: American Adoptions

We just adopted our beautiful baby girl a month ago and are having a wonderful time being parents. Mothers Day is also approaching and I am excited to celebrate my first Mother's Day with our new daughter. However, I am also wondering about our birthmother's feeling during this holiday. Our adoption agreement specifies to send letters and pictures twice a year and that's all. I do not know what the appropriate thing to do is, if anything, during this particular holiday. Should we send her a card or something? Thank you!


Posted At: 10:20:11 AM | Posted By: Admin

Can you please explain ICPC to us? I guess we are curious what exactly it is and why it takes so long. We just wish we could go home sooner and planning to be away from home for 2 weeks or so is difficult to think about. Thanks!


Posted At: 02:35:39 PM | Posted By: Admin

We heard that American Adoptions has a pictures and letters contract that we will sign once we are matched and were wondering what this contract states exactly. We were also wondering if we wanted to send more than what the contract states if that's ok?


Posted At: 04:40:54 PM | Posted By: Admin

Megan, we are thinking of joining a support group in our area. What do you know about support groups for adoption? We also participate some in forum chats online, but find those to be helpful sometimes and not so helpful other times. Do you or American Adoptions have any recommendations?


Posted At: 03:45:10 PM | Posted By: Admin

Megan, we are really worried because we don't seem to be connecting to our birth mother the way it seems many families have in the stories that are posted on your website. I know that every birth mother is different, but I had hoped for more interaction and to be able to get a feeling from our interaction with her. Does her lack of wanting contact with us mean she is less likely to follow through with her adoption plan?


Posted At: 08:35:29 AM | Posted By: Admin

Megan, we know that you said we could check in with you from time to time while we are active and wait for a match. When you tell us high exposure, what does that mean exactly and is there any other feedback we can receive during the waiting time? Is it essential that we check in on our exposure number because it seems like it is not really relevant until there is feedback that one of the potential birth parents has an interest in us…is this correct?


Posted At: 09:05:51 AM | Posted By: Admin

Megan,
You have emailed us before to see if we want our profile shown to a potential birth mother who is outside our APQ, (I think the one you asked us about last time was full Hispanic). Can you explain again why you email us about these situations and how we can make sure we continue to be contacted about these possibilities? Also, are these American Adoptions birth mothers or birth mothers from other agencies? You mentioned how you have a resource center, but I couldn't remember the details. Thanks for your help!


Posted At: 09:00:25 AM | Posted By: Admin

Presented by American Adoptions, Inc.

American Adoptions is offering a free adoption information seminar for people who are contemplating adoption and do not have an Adoption Home Study or an Adoption Agency. These seminars are both interesting and informative!


Posted At: 03:30:50 PM | Posted By: Admin

Megan, we have not finalized our adoption yet, but want to claim our baby girl on our taxes. With tax day around the corner, we wanted to know how we can go about filing our taxes when we don't have a social security number for the baby yet.


Posted At: 10:25:54 AM | Posted By: Admin

We are in the T1 program and have been waiting 9 months. We are wondering if there are few couples left that were activated prior/during our time frame.