Q & A with Laurie
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 are currently joining the Agency-Assisted Program and are a little discouraged to hear that there are more families than ever in this program. Should we be concerned about our wait time or is there anything we can do to help our situation?
A. American Adoptions does currently have more families in the Agency-Assisted Program than ever before. This is actually very exciting for birth mothers and families in this program. Birth mothers have a larger selection of families to choose from in this program, and more adoptions will occur because more birth mothers will decide to join our agency as well. Years ago, it was more typical for our agency to have approximately 10-20 adoptive couples at a time in our Agency-Assisted Program. Currently, we have over 50. Some of those families currently adoption opportunities, so not all are available to be chosen by a birth mother at this time. We currently have higher than average adoptive couples in adoption opportunities in this program, which is an example of how more families can produce more adoptions for the program.
Although there are positives to having more families in the Agency-Assisted Program, it is true that your competition is greater than ever. It’s great that you are asking what you can do in your situation. You can revisit your APQ to make sure that you are as open as you feel comfortable. The more flexible, the better your chances are of receiving an adoption opportunities. Are you only open to a biracial child, and could you open up to a full African-American child as well? Could you be open to additional medical history or substance use?
Also, it can be helpful to revisit the budget you’ve set for post-activation and make sure you’ve set it as high as possible because this, too, can make a huge difference on the number of adoption opportunities you are considered for. Look over your profile, and make sure that your photos and text highlight your family’s special qualities and strengths and make you attractive to a birth mother. These are the areas that are in your direct control. A birth mother does have much control, as she will choose a family. But if your APQ isn’t open enough, she may never even get to consider your profile. And if your profile isn’t in tip-top shape, she may not get an accurate view of your family.
There is one other alternative to consider during this time that may help you become parents. Some families in our agency-assisted program join more than one agency at a time. This can increase your exposure to birth mothers as well. Making the choice to use more than just our agency is not a necessity. But it is one that American Adoptions would support, if ultimately you felt that option suited your family’s needs. We do, however, require that any family who makes this decision immediately notifies American Adoptions if an adoption opportunities comes from another source, so that we can cease your profile exposure. This is only fair to birth mothers and other families still seeking an adoption opportunity.
We wish you the best during your adoption process here at American Adoptions and appreciate the question!!
