Agency Adoption versus Private Child Adoption

Keep you and your baby safe. Licensed child adoption agencies are regulated by the state and fully investigate families who want to adopt. All to often, some individuals involved in a private adoption do not conduct the same type of in-depth investigation, thus exposing a child to risk.

With an agency adoption you and your baby are matched with an adopting family through the help of the adoption agency and then the agency helps you and the family through the whole process and adjustment period. With a private adoption the placement of the child is arranged through an attorney, physician, friend, or referral service and after the placement takes place you must fend for yourself.

There are several reasons why a private adoption can be very risky for you and the child you are placing for adoption.  First, the attorney, the family, and/or the referral source are working to get your child placed with the family and they may understandably be more interested in helping the adopting family than in helping you or your baby.  Additionally, in a private adoption you may not really know much about the family except what they allow you to be told. The adopting family is interested in presenting the best picture possible and they will do everything possible to keep anything negative about them from you. They may have gone through very little if any screening, so you can not be sure if their marriage is truly stable or if they have a healthy mental outlook and a truly positive way of handling children, etc.

Additionally, in a private adoption the family may promise you things like pictures and updates but they do not have to follow through. Without a licensed adoption agency supervising the process, adoption can be a nightmare. When you read horror stories in the news, these are most likely private adoptions.

While your attorney, counselor, doctor, or friend probably has your best interest at heart, based on almost 40 years of experience and after helping hundreds of birth mothers and birth fathers get out of horrible situations, we very strongly recommend you proceed only with a licensed adoption agency.

In an agency adoption you have all the choices and options available to you that you would have in a private adoption and you will have added protections as well. 

An adoption agency has a license from the state and the state has made sure the agency has programs to help birth parents like you, programs to carefully and thoroughly screen adopting families, to supervise and monitor the placement, and to provide follow-up services. The agency can also help coordinate your prenatal care with the hospital and help make sure you get follow-up care.  They have a license and the responsibility to watch out for you and your child. 

The agency will carefully screen all families, they will verify state police, child abuse, and FBI clearances, they will carefully evaluate mental health histories, income tax records, references, marriage stability, child rearing attitudes, etc.  And the agency is in the position to enforce the promises the family has made regarding pictures, updates, seeing the child, etc. 

Adoption Services is a fully licensed non-profit adoption agency that can help a birth mother or birth father living in any of the 50 states with either a closed or open adoption.  We provide advise and counseling to you at no cost.  We are here to help you make the best decision for yourself and the baby. We do not automatically assume you will place your child for adoption. Our counseling is always free and is provided throughout the entire process -- now, when the baby is born, and afterwards for as long as you need it.

If you need additional information or assistance, please feel free to contact Adoption Services or contact Dr Vince Berger.  Dr. Berger is a licensed psychologist who has been helping birth mothers, birth fathers, and adopting families for 40 years.