Make 2009
YOUR
Year To Remember

American Adoptions Announces New Foster Care Partnership

In addition to helping families and children through traditional domestic adoption, the adoption of children within the state's foster care system has long been in the heart of American Adoptions.

Our founders, Ted, Susan and Scott Mars, are not only an adoptive family, but they also served as a temporary home to over 150 children in Kansas' foster care system.

Our agency provides extensive lobbying efforts to improve the adoption laws in our home state of Kansas. As a result, we have numerous contacts with the state of Kansas and the organizations that help children in the Kansas foster care system.

In 2009, you will begin to notice biographies on children in Kansas foster care, which will be placed on our Web site, www.americanadoptions.com, along with information directing families where to call if interested in adopting one of these children.

Helping Children in Kansas Foster Care Jaymes, 10 Male Caucasian KVC Reference #7591 Polite, respectful, and friendly are words used to describe Jaymes. He also has a good sense of humor. Jaymes likes to play games on the computer and loves to draw. He is interested in cars, too. James has two older sisters he would like to maintain contact with, but he can be adopted alone. Jaymes will benefit from a family who can provide structure and consistency and help him to appropriately express his feelings. Jaymes would like to live in a city, and would enjoy having a sister in his Forever Family. Contact information for families who inquire about these children: Toll-free telephone number - 888-655-5500 E-mail - adoptionspecialist@kvc.org Website -www.kvc.org/Meet Kansas Kids

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.

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. Hi Megan, we like to read through the profiles of other waiting families and there are definitely some differences in all the families, but we also notice a lot of similarities. What do birth mothers look for in an Adoptive Family? Will it hurt our wait time if I'm not a stay at home mother?

A. Great question! I find that many families enjoy reading the different family profiles because you can feel a sense of connection with them and also find ideas for ways to make your own profile stand out. The good thing is that no two birth mothers are exactly alike, which means there will be a birth mother for every prospective family. I know some families find that very hard to believe as time passes with no word of a match, but it just means that the right birth mother for you has not come along yet. Birth mothers may choose families for some of the following reasons (these are all reasons I have heard from birth mothers that I have worked with about why they chose a family they did):

• Family's ability to stay at home, flexible work schedules and/or extended family close by who can care for the child
• Family has no children and birth mother wants to bless them with her child
• Family has a child/children already and birth mother likes the idea of her child having sibling(s)
• Family shares similar religious beliefs
• Family's age
• Family's physical characteristics are similar to her own
• Family states that they are open to having a relationship with her and staying in touch via phone/email/photos/letters
• Family has pets and she loves animals so there is a common bond
• Family has similar career path as her or her family members
• Family's letter touches her emotionally; not sure why, but feels like the right family
• Family has same hobbies as her or her family members
• Family looks very happy and loving in their photos; are smiling a lot; look fun
• Family is active

As you can see, it varies and there are many reasons that a birth mother may be drawn to a certain family. Most birth mothers probably select a family based on several different reasons as opposed to just one, but this gives you an idea of types of things a birth mother may be drawn to. I could continue on, but hopefully you get the idea. While a family who has the ability to have a stay at home mother may have an advantage of being selected by a birth mother who desires this, it does not mean that a family who does not plan to have a stay at home parent will wait longer automatically just because of this. There are so many personal and individual factors that go into each birth mother's decision and while we see common themes of what birth mothers look for, we cannot begin to create the perfect formula to ensure a family be picked by a birth mother. We can give you pointers and suggestions on how to make your profile the best it can be for your family and how to draw out the positives your family possesses. Also, one thing that I think is one of the most important things to remember about the profile is consideration of where the birth mother is emotionally when she is reading your profile. Most likely, she is only considering adoption and has not decided 100% because she has not yet found the perfect family. Most likely, she still considers the baby she is carrying to be her own. Most likely, she is scared and confused and not completely sure what type of family would be best for her child. Most likely, she is looking for a family who seems loving and caring not only to her child, but who will feel that way about her always as well.

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