New Year, New Options at American Adoptions

The New Year is bringing exciting new changes to American Adoptions. The year 2008 was a successful one for agency as we completed more adoptions than any year previously. So far, 2009 is looking just as positive as we continue to be contacted by more expectant mothers considering adoption.

For 2009, American Adoptions has unveiled five exciting new changes for adoptive families:

Option #1 Repeat Families

In 2009, we will continue offering a discount to families who return to American Adoptions for another adoption. If you have adopted through American Adoptions and are interested in returning for another adoption, please contact our agency for details about our repeat family fee structure.

Option #2 Gender-Specific Program

We have opened up a new gender-specific adoption program. In this program, families will be given the option of adopting a child of a specific gender. Families interested in this program would be obligated to pay an additional gender-specific advertising fee to cover the additional advertising and staff time that is necessary to locate and work with birth parents for these families.

Option #3 Limiting Financial Risk for Families

One of the tough parts about domestic adoption is families dealing with financial losses if a birth mother changes her mind. As a result, we have developed a new fee structure for our families. In this new fee structure, families would not have any fees at risk until after placement.

With the new fee structure, families can rest assured that if the birth mother changes her mind and chooses to parent her child, the family will not lose money paid into that situation for items such as living or medical expenses. This allows for a more fixed budget without the worry of so many expenses at risk.

Essentially, families who enter into this program and the new fee structure have reduced their financial risks. The new fee structure helps the agency offset the financial losses, which in the past were the responsibility of each individual family, of cases that do not result in an adoptive placement.

Option #4 Helping Children in the Kansas Foster Care system

Our agency provides extensive lobbying efforts to improve the adoptions laws in our home state of Kansas. As a result, we have numerous contacts with the state of Kansas and the organizations who 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.

Option # 5 International Adoptions

In 2008, American Adoptions became Hague accredited to perform international adoptions. As a result, American Adoptions is developing a strategic partnership to provide efficient and dependable adoptions internationally. We believe families will be able to adopt through the following countries: China, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia and Burundi. Our goal is to have all these international options available to our families by March 1st 2009. Once these country programs are available, we will advise you.

We hope that you find these new opportunities just as exciting as we do!

We are happy to report that we continue to see a strong trend in adoption and are contacted by more and more women each day considering placing their baby for adoption. However, as more women consider their adoption option, that means we need more adoptive families!

If you are interested in any of our new options, or want to find out more about our agency, please contact us at 1-800-ADOPTION.

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 Laurie

Laurie
Walker

Hello everyone, my name is Laurie Walker and I am an Adoptive Family Specialist with American Adoptions. I have worked with many birth mothers and adoptive families in my time here at American Adoptions and love being able to watch families form through adoption.

Q. We would like to know how we can open our APQ to help our profile exposure. Are there certain items we could open up to that would make a big difference? We might consider opening up more to certain mental health situations, but are wondering which the more commonly seen in birth parents are?

A. I am so glad you asked about this as we do have a current need for more families to be open to Bipolar at this time. American Adoptions has definitely seen an increase in the incidence of bipolar and also depression in birth parent's medical histories. There could be several factors leading to this increase that should be considered. Most importantly, society in general has more cases of diagnosed mental health issues. This is likely because mental health issues are more openly discussed today than they were even five years ago and they do not carry as much stigma as in the past. More people are seeking treatment, which has led to more individuals being given diagnoses and prescribed medications to help them lead healthy lifestyles. The incidence of mental health conditions is likely not any higher than it ever has been, however it appears to be more common because people are becoming more educated about it and talking openly about it. For example, Jane Pauley spoke out about her coping and living with bipolar. Other things to consider when thinking of your own openness to bipolar in birth families is the realization that it is common for people to be misdiagnosed and/or for someone to be given a diagnosis many years earlier in their life and to no longer be in need of treatment. It should also be noted that an extremely stressful incident can provoke an emotional response that can mimic a bipolar disorder, which could influence an incorrect diagnosis by a therapist. For example, a birth mother could state she has previously been diagnosed with bipolar, but in further exploration with her, we might find out that she received the diagnosis at age 14 (much earlier than most people are diagnosed) after she was the victim of rape. She could have experienced severe depression and began utilizing drugs to cope with the rape. She could have really been suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from the rape and the drug use could have also altered her moods all which could have incorrectly led the counselor to provide her a bipolar diagnosis. We have definitely seen situations like this before.

It is also common for birth parents to have limited knowledge about their family history. For example, they may say that they think their aunt has bipolar, but they cannot be sure and do not know if she is taking medication or that she for sure has it. Mental health, such as depression and bipolar, can be genetic and there can be a link in families just like alcoholism or diabetes. However, there are many environmental factors that play a very large part as well. For example, a child who is adopted into a stable environment whom would otherwise have been in a birth family that was overly stressed or even abusive, may thrive and learn appropriate and healthy coping skills and never experience mental health disorders. Also, there are many cases where people are diagnosed with bipolar or depression who cannot find any other known relative who has had a mental health diagnosis. I have a friend who was diagnosed with bipolar in his early 20s and has no history of bipolar or depression in his family. He also is able to control everything with medication and is leading a very normal and productive life.

Another huge factor to be considered when completing your APQ is that you may never receive a full history from your child's birth parents. For example, the birth mother may not know much if anything at all about her family's medical history. For example, what if the birth mother herself was either adopted and didn't know their own medical history or who did not have contact with their family so they did not know much information. There is also a very high likelihood that the birth father is unknown and unable or unwilling to provide any information about his medical history. Therefore, there is always a chance that mental health conditions or other conditions could run in his family history.

It is often true that adoptive families whose APQs are the most open typically do adopt quicker than those families whose APQs are not as open. If you'd like to open your own APQ up to accepting birth parents with Bipolar in their history, please contact your Adoptive Family Specialist to assist with this.

If you'd like to know more information in general about bipolar disorders, please consult your physician or a mental health professional as there is much more to know about this disorder than what is stated here and a complete educated decision is always recommended by our agency. We do not recommend researching any medical information on the internet however as much information found there can be misleading or inaccurate.

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