Make 2009
YOUR
Year To Remember
To find out more about a special offer from American Adoptions
read below by following this link.
Celebrate Adoption!
Photographers donate service to new adoptive families
A picture can speak a thousand words. Especially if that picture is a portrait of an adoptive family and their new child.
If you have adopted within the last 12 months, then celebrate your adoption with a complimentary professional family photo session! Celebratingadoption.org is an organization of professional photographers across the nation who donate their time
and skills to help new adoptive families celebrate their adoption.
All families who have adopted within the last year qualify for the service. Families receive a complimentary parent and child portrait session and a small set of proofs. Each photographer sets his or her own policies regarding each Celebrating
Adoption portrait session, including size of proofs, location of session, etc.
To learn more, visit www.celebratingadoption.org
Make 2009 a Year to Remember!
American Adoptions to Provide Free Adoption Tele-Seminars
As families across the world usher in a New Year, many also resolve to do something great. To make the New Year their year; to finally take those first steps and do something they have resolved to do.
Each year, thousands of couples face the heartbreak of infertility. Often after months - or years - of unsuccessful infertility treatments, many couples resolve to make the New Year different and find themselves wondering about their adoption option.
What is it like? What is the process? Are there really infants available for adoption in the U.S.?
If you or someone you know has wondered about adoption, American Adoptions will be offering free educational tele-seminars to educate the public about their adoption options. American Adoptions is one of the nation's largest domestic adoption
agencies and is involved in over 300 domestic adoptions each year. Tele-seminars will be offered during two convenient times and dates:
- Exploring the Adoption Option: Information and Answers
11 a.m., January 19, 2009
- Exploring the Adoption Option: Information and Answers
Noon, January 24, 2009
These convenient one-hour tele-seminars will allow families across the nation to learn more about the adoption process from the comfort of their own home. Participants will learn the basics of the adoption process and will have the opportunity to
ask any questions they may have.
Although these tele-seminars are free, advanced reservation is preferred. To RSVP for a tele-seminar, contact Mike Aguilar at 1-800-ADOPTION or e-mail mike@americanadoptions.com. To participate in the tele-seminar, dial (877) 336-1829 and enter
code 4370159 to join the conference call.
To learn more about adoption, our agency and how adoption has touched the lives of millions across the U.S., visit our Web site at www.americanadoptions.com or contact us at 1-800-ADOPTION.
Questions & Answers With Megan
 Megan
Kautio
Hello everyone, my name is Megan Kautio and I am an Adoptive Family Specialist with American Adoptions. I have had many wonderful
experiences over time working with both birth parents and adoptive families. I use this weekly column to try and provide continued education and support to our clients based
on questions that have been posed. My current role at American Adoptions is to advocate for and support our prospective adoptive families who are involved in our adoption
process. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts with all of you.
Q.
We have been thinking about adoption for a while but have been afraid, especially with all the media regarding the economy. We have the funds available to adopt now, should we start the process before the holidays or wait until after the
holidays? Do birth moms really contact to you around Christmas or is everyone just too busy right now? Are there more birth mothers contacting you because of their own economic downturn? Are they worried they will not be able to care for a child now
or in the future because of the economy? Is this more positive or negative on our adoption plan? I know I am throwing out a lot of questions, but this is on our mind and we are just trying to figure out the best way to proceed. Thanks for your help!
A.
Thank you for your great questions … I know these are questions and concerns on the minds of many right now. There is no doubt that the economy is affecting most everyone right now and adds even more questions and concerns about the adoption
process. Now is time more than ever for families to make sure their funding is secure and you may find a need to be more creative or organized now than before to make sure no problems arise when the funds are actually needed.
American Adoptions is contacted by hundreds of women considering adoption each month and these inquiries from potential birth mothers do not slow down during the holidays. As of Friday morning, we had been contacted by roughly 250 women
already this month. Women choose adoption for a variety of reasons, but lack of financial means and support has always been a common reason for women to consider adoption. With the current status of our economy, I think it's safe to say that more
women are considering adoption because of fear about the economy and not being able to provide for a baby. On the flip side, less adoptive families are moving forward in the process because of that same fear about the economy. Families also tend to
put their process on hold until after the holidays when they are less busy and stressed, but as I mentioned earlier, birth mothers are not putting their process on hold. It is a great time for you to get activated with American Adoptions because of this. We
have more birth mothers coming to our agency right now than adoptive families so it's a perfect time to get activated. I strongly encourage you to move forward now especially since it sounds like you have everything in place.
Those of you who are already active families with American Adoptions might be wondering what benefits there are, if any, for you to having more waiting families active with our agency. The truth is it's always helpful to have more active families
because having a more variety of adoptive families available for women to consider leads more women to work with American Adoptions. For example, a birth mother may contact our agency due to having an initial interest in a specific adoptive family
she views on our Web site, but find that they are not a match for her situation. However, during the process of inquiring about that specific family and learning they are not a match for her, she likely will become comfortable with our staff and become
committed to working on an adoption plan with American Adoptions. She is likely then to select another adoptive family already active with our agency that benefits from having this diverse selection of families on our Web site.
Thanks again for writing! Please contact us anytime with any more questions or concerns!
Have a question for American Adoptions?
No matter what stage of the adoption process you are at, there are bound to be questions. Feel free to submit your question to us for discussion in future newsletters.
| 
