Adoption Networking
From the very beginning of the agency, Adoption Associates, Inc. has been teaching families how to use networking as a way to connect with birth mothers—a reason why AAI has been Michigan’s leading infant agency for over ten years.
If you choose domestic infant adoption, networking may be a good option for you.
What is Adoption Networking?
Simply defined, “adoption networking” is the activities employed by prospective adopting couples to reach adoption-minded birth parents.
Making a decision to actively seek a birth mother increases your chance of placement and may decrease the time you wait to bring a child home. You can do this two ways: by word of mouth advertising and/or classified advertising.
Successful Placement
After using these means to locate a birth mother, working with an adoption agency like Adoption Associates, Inc. increases your chance of a successful placement. This is because both parties to the adoption are included in the counseling and educational processes of the agency, rather than being left on their own during the weeks and months preceding birth and placement.
More Information
For more information on how to network and how it can work for you, please call us today at 1.800.677.2367.
Networking Success Story
by adoptive parents Jim & Liz
When my wife, Liz, and I chose Adoption Associates, Inc., they strongly encouraged us to network. As our home study was being completed, we were putting our profile together. We attended one of their networking meetings with about eight other couples. They mentioned the profile of the birth mother and what her situation would be. Once our home study was complete, we were ready to begin.
We mailed our profiles to everyone we knew: friends, family, coworkers, and customers. We also talked to everyone we possibly could to let them know we were going to adopt a child and if they knew of any birth mothers who were considering placing their babies with an adoptive family to please let us know. We placed ads on bulletin boards of laundromats, grocery stores, beauty parlors, and trailer parks around the state. This did two things for us: it increased our chances of making contact with a birth mother, and it also kept our minds off of the fact that our profile had only been seen once by a prospective birth mother at the agency. It put us in control and made us feel like we were in the driver’s seat.
It was a great chance for Liz and I to share quality time as we crisscrossed the state to put up our profiles. We also ran classified ads in some of the rural shopper’s guides as AAI suggested. After three or four false alarms that unraveled, it was finally our time.
As I write this letter tonight, I can say that I am one proud daddy and the father of two wonderful twin girls. Does networking work? You bet it does! It has its ups and downs, but we always kept the ultimate objective in sight … to be parents. It worked for us and it can work for you as well.
