How Agency Experience Impacts Your Adoption Success
The agency you choose will shape your entire adoption journey. Two factors more than any others determine whether you’ll successfully adopt — and how long it will take:
Understanding an agency’s qualifications in these two areas will help you avoid costly mistakes, shorten wait times, and increase your chances of a smooth, successful adoption.
1. Marketing and Outreach: What to Know
Did You Know: If your agency doesn't market to reach enough birth parents, you likely won't ever complete an adoption.
Why It Matters
Finding the right birth mother is the most challenging part of the adoption process. If an agency doesn’t have staff skilled in marketing and outreach, they will struggle to generate enough quality connections. This leads to failed matches, long waits, and in too many cases, families who never become parents.
What to Look For
- Proven marketing expertise and outreach strategies to connect with women facing unplanned pregnancies.
- Several media-trained team members with hands-on experience in adoption marketing.
Red Flags
- No full-time media staff — a major warning sign if social workers are handling the marketing part-time.
- No specialized training or education in marketing or outreach.
- Hiring outside media companies with no adoption experience — this is where agencies often lose the most money.
The Real Cost
Agencies end up wasting tens of thousands of dollars per family on ads that don’t convert—because most outside media firms simply aren’t built for adoption.
Why This Happens:
- You’re not their priority: Small agency accounts don’t get a dedicated media expert. Campaigns are lumped in with car dealerships and salons—so your message's effectiveness suffers.
- They don’t speak “adoption”: Mastering adoption marketing takes 1–2 years of specialized training. But because your account isn’t big enough, most media firms can't afford the staff to get it right.
- You pay for their media staff turnover: Every time your agency's media rep leaves, your ad effectiveness starts from zero. Agencies get trapped in a costly “doom loop” of retraining and wasted spend.
The Result
Ineffective outreach. Poor-quality leads. Weak ad copy. Uninspiring video content. All of this increases your risk of longer waits and failed matches.
It’s like hiring a hiking guide to lead you up Mount Everest—even though they’ve never climbed it themselves. You can hire them, but how confident would you feel about reaching the summit?
Important Note: Not all outside media companies are a problem. Some specialize exclusively in adoption marketing, and those can be effective partners. The issue arises when agencies hire generalist firms that treat adoption like just another ad account.
Best Agencies
- Multiple full-time staff exclusively devoted to marketing and outreach—not unqualified staff “trying” marketing on the side.
- Real marketing expertise, whether in-house or through specialized adoption media partners.
- Read here to understand American Adoptions' marketing and outreach success.
2. Expertise Working with Birth Parents
Why It Matters
The placement process is when birth parents receive counseling and case management support as they decide if adoption is right for them. It’s also critical that your agency understands the emotional and legal complexities involved. This expertise is essential to completing an adoption safely, ethically, and successfully. Agencies with the right experience protect both adoptive families and birth parents—reducing legal risks and ensuring smoother placements.
What Experience and Qualifications Are Needed
- Agencies must be licensed in the state where the birth mother lives to complete the placement process legally and correctly.
- Look for agencies with substantial experience supporting birth parents, as most agencies focus more heavily on home study services.
Red Flags
- Low number of placements completed annually
If an agency only completes a handful of placements each year, it likely has limited experience emotionally supporting birth parents and navigating the legal complexities of adoption. Want to find out why less experience = less successful adoptions? Read our guide on experience and support. - Advertising nationwide while licensed in only a few states
New laws increasingly restrict this practice because it leads to unnecessary adoption failures. Agencies without expertise in multiple states and a lack of licensure often lack the local legal knowledge and placement experience necessary to complete adoptions safely. The result? Avoidable mistakes, legal risks, and failed placements. Read this important guide to learn more about the changing landscape of adoption laws designed to protect families.
Best Agencies
- Licensed in multiple states and primarily completing adoptions in those licensed areas.
- Handling a high volume of placements each year (e.g., 30+), demonstrating extensive experience with birth parents and legal requirements.
- Example: American Adoptions is licensed in more states than any other adoption professional. The overwhelming majority of its adoptions occur in those licensed states. In the last 35 years, American Adoptions has completed over 13,000 adoptions, offering the most comprehensive placement experience in the United States.
Family Perspective
Facts to Collect When Evaluating an Agency
- Website traffic volume
- Number of full-time media staff
- Reliance on outside media companies—and whether those companies specialize in adoption
- Credentials of the staff handling marketing
- Number of successful placements they’ve completed annually
- Number of adoptions they’ve facilitated by finding birth mothers directly
An Experienced Agency is the Difference Maker in Your Success
Choosing the right agency isn’t just about fees or promises. It’s about selecting a team with the expertise to reach the right birth mothers and the experience to navigate the placement process safely. When those two pieces are in place, your chances of a smooth, timely, and successful adoption increase dramatically. The difference between agencies can mean the difference between waiting years and finally becoming parents.
Would you like more comparison information? Are you ready to find out what step you can take next in the adoption process?
Contact us online today to get what you need to continue your adoption journey.
Disclaimer
Information available through these links is the sole property of the companies and organizations listed therein. American Adoptions provides this information as a courtesy and is in no way responsible for its content or accuracy.