Family to Family Adoptions Inc, Adoptive Families, Birth Mothers

We recently received a very rewarding note from a new couple looking for an opportunity to build their family. This is how the email message began (names and location have been changed to protect privacy):

“My name is Sharon, and I am good friends with Joe and his partner, Bill, from Atlanta. They adopted Chalon from you 18 months ago, and have not stopped raving about your agency!”

This is the kind of thing we love to see when we open our mailbox in the morning! It tells us that we have achieved a successful placement for a couple who needs help in creating the kind of family they want, and that we have found a home for a child who might otherwise have a very uncertain future.

We are proud of our position that no one should be restricted from adoption solely due to age, religion, income or sexual orientation. We are also very pleased that our clients have been so happy with our services and support that they talk to their friends about us to spread the word. There is no better recommendation than one from someone who has worked with you to accomplish their goals! Fortunately, we have received numerous testimonials from such people in the past.

If you are a Mother looking for a placement for your child, look at our description of birthmother services to see whether we might be the right fit for your situation and your child.

We just received a nice “Thank You” from one of the grantees helped by our program. We often get such testimonials from our clients and we always appreciate hearing how we have helped someone.

In this case, our client did not use our services to place her baby, but she did qualify for the education grant that we make available. This is only a small example of the various kinds of support we can offer to our birth mother clients.

From time to time, we come across references to our services on the web where people are talking about us. We recently found a post on another blog, in response to a question on that blog, that referred to our services. Here is the response, just as posted on the site:

“My husband and I have a daughter that we adopted through an adoption agency calledFamily To Family Adoptions Inc. they were wonderful to work through.

We had already completed our homestudy through an independant agent. With a homestudy they do background checks, ask you and your spouse lots of questions, make sure your house meets safety standards.

Once we called the agency we filled out an application, and they then presented out to expecting mothers. Once one of the mothers picked us, we were and waited for our daughter to be born. However, we only waited a week, because her birthmother was at the end of her pregnancy.

With the profile, it will consist of a letter you write to the birthmother, it is called the Dear Birthmother. There will also be pictures of you and your family, maybe your house, pets, etc.  This profile needs to help the birthmother know you just by reading it.

In some cases the birthmother will want to meet before the birth, sometimes birthmother will never want to meet you.

FOSTER CARE

To become foster parents you need to take a course provided by the state to receive a liscense. In many states this course is called PRIDE Classes. Parents Resources for Information, Development, and Education. There will be between 30-35 hours of class time plus homework. The state will then have a homestudy done for you the same way you would for the adoption agency.

Once everything is cleared they will send you your liscense and you will be able to start fostering. With the time your case worker is with you you will have figured out how many children you can care for and what ages you would like to work with.

Adoptions prices can be $ 17000 to $ 30000

There will almost always be an aplication fee but NEVER pay more that $ 500 for that fee.

Our adoption cost was about $ 17000 to the agency, then about $ 700 for lawyer fees to finalize the adoption.

Foster care just cost the time you invest in it. We are also starting the adoption process through foster care and that is just going to cost lawyer fees for finalization.

Our adoption agency is Family To Family Adoptions Inc and their website is fam2fam.org or phone number 281-342-4042

Good Luck!”

This is the unedited posting. We chose to re-post it because it is one of several responses to the question and is a little hard to find on the other blog.

We always place great emphasis on making our clients feel as comfortable with us and the adoption process as we possibly can. It is rewarding to us when our clients express their thanks in notes to us about their experience. We have posted a few of the notes we have received over the years on our site as “Testimonials from Adoptive Families” and “Testimonials from Birthmothers“.

I wanted to share a letter we received about a year ago from a young woman who placed her son with us in June 2005.  She is now married and has a great job and all around great life.  This is not an unusual story and many birth families find resolution and happiness after placement if they have the right support and treatment from the agency they have chosen to help them through this process.

“I know I am so lucky to have so many people in my life that are so understanding.  At first, my mom and family were super upset that I didn’t tell them about the baby and the adoption until after the fact.  I couldn’t…they would have tried to interfere and I knew I was doing the right thing.  They’ve since become very supportive.  They know I did this out of love.  I don’t feel ashamed like I did before.  Instead, I’m proud of the sacrifice I made so that my baby could have a better life.

I’ve recommended your agency…but they chose to go through with an abortion.  Seeing them through what they did, made me all the more grateful that my situation unfolded the way it did.

Sometimes  I think about the baby and I’m a little sad…but I know that’s just life.  Things don’t always turn out the way you plan them to.  But I do believe in fate and that everything happens for a reason.  I love my life now…I have a great life…I couldn’t ask for anything else.  Thank you and your agency for all that you’ve done for me and my family…all of us.  I really love you guys!!!!”  H…placed June 2005

Many of our birth mothers have thanked us for how we have helped them in the adoption process and we have posted a few of their comments on our site as “Birth Mother Testimonials“.

What does Thanksgiving make you think about?  As an adoptive mother it brings tears to my eyes to think about the gratitude in my heart that I have for a very special lady that allowed one of my biggest dreams to come true…the dream of being a mom! There were several years that we attended family Thanksgiving celebrations and would hear comments like, “when are you going to start your family” or “you guys sure are taking your time.” We had not shared with them the deep desire to grow our family and the trials we were going through at that very moment in time!  After a few years it was clear that adoption was the answer to growing our family.  We were very excited for the first time in a long time that we could become three!


When we first spoke with Family to Family the ladies there were nice and so understanding! It was amazing.  It was not long before we were matched and our Princess was born in the fall of that year.  In our situation we do not have regular communication with the lady that I hold dear to my heart, our daughters birthmother, but there is not a single day that goes by that she doesn’t cross my mind. I am so thankful to her for the opportunity to be a mom.

When Thanksgiving comes around the daily thoughts turn into regular tears, I honestly think there are not enough words of gratitude that could ever express what I have in my heart for this wonderful lady.  I know that each day we are to be thankful, and I am, but Thanksgiving time puts a whole new perspective into my heart and mind.  I am thankful for Family to Family and the A+ services they offer, and also to the lady that gave our Princess life and allowed us to become parents through that choice!

“We drove 27 hours straight through to get from our Midwest home to Texas and arrived at the hospital when our beautiful baby was 22 hours old!”

Another testimonial from one of our adoptive families tells us again that the work we do here has an impact on people’s lives. We always appreciate these kinds of stories because they remind us over and over again that our efforts are meaningful (and appreciated).

Visit our web site to learn more about the adoptive process and see how we might be of service to you in your efforts to build your family!

We at Family to Family have always prided ourselves on our attention to serving the needs of the birthmothers that we are associated with. We have a list of birthmother services that we provide to our clients and maintain a list of questions and answers of interest to birth families.

We are always gratified when our constituents recognize our efforts, and many of them mention us and our dedicated staff in their blogs describing ways that we have been supportive and helpful to them in their efforts to expand their families. One of our clients has written a personal note about his own experience as an adopted child and his sensitivity to issues that birth mothers have. His story points up how our approach serves birth families as well as adoptive families.

Adoption has been a frequently used word in our home since the shortly after my husband and I were married. There was a good chance I would not be able to carry a child, and this was talked about after we were engaged. We just didn’t know the route that would be taken to get there. After being married for a little more than a year we decided it would be time to add a baby to our family. Much to our surprise we became pregnant in short order! As quickly as it happened, it all ended. We would go through this four more times without any answers from doctors. This is where our adoption journey begins!

As a young married couple we did not know anyone that had adopted and really didn’t know where to start. I began using my one hour a day at the library researching on the internet. We also started making phone calls to all the numbers under “adoption” in the yellow pages. After a few months of doing this we had made a decision to sign a contract with an agency in another state that did require us to pay a good lump of money up front. But it was okay, they had great references that we called ourselves and their adoption placements were solid…or so it seemed. Our contract was for two years and there was a 60% chance that we would be matched and have our baby in the first year and a 95% chance at adoption in the two year period. It all sounded good to us, but it was too good to be true. A little over a year into the contract, and failed matches later we decided to cancel the contract and be out the money that we had invested. We walked away praying that all agencies were not this way!

I can tell you now that they are not! It was shortly after this happened that a friend told us about Family to Family Adoptions Inc. I called them that very day! There was not a bump or a glitch after that point in our adoption journey, and it was a short one! Four days after my first phone call to Jennifer, she was calling me back with a situation that was considered “emergency.” There was a birth mother that was due in a little over a week with a healthy baby and they wanted to know if we were interested. Now before getting too far down the road here, I want you all to know that it doesn’t happen this fast for everyone. We were homestudy ready and already had our adoption profile put together and just needed to fax everything to the wonderful ladies at Family to Family.

The birth mother looked over our profile and chose us to be the adoptive parents of her baby. Because of the short time before her due date, we started making preparations right away. The plan was to fly down a few days before her due date to have the chance to meet her and so we could ask each other questions. But that plan didn’t stick, because she had the baby a week early…which puts us at 3 days after we were told about this situation! We very quickly jumped in the car and drove from our Midwest home to Richmond, Texas (a 26 hour drive!) The entire trip the ladies at Family to Family were calling us and keeping us up to the minute on what was happening. They called us when our baby was born, and even kept us up to date on how she was doing until we arrived! Upon arriving in Richmond we were able to meet all the great ladies in the office at Family to Family. They quickly had us do the paperwork that needed to be done so that we could go to the hospital and meet our baby and her birth mother. From the minute we arrived until the minute that I flew home with our baby, there was not a time that I felt alone because the ladies at Family to Family took care of us. They would accompany us to the hospital, help us to know what was helpful and respectful of our birth mother, and almost were able to answer our questions before we knew what to ask! They also helped us out with a place to stay, which was a huge blessing because we had never been to this part of the country before and we had such short notice in regards to planning.

Because of Interstate Compact, I was to stay in Texas until the paperwork was cleared to take our baby out of the state of Texas. My husband was not able to stay the entire week and a half that we needed to be there so I was left with our newborn baby in an unfamiliar place with no transportation. But once again Family to Family stepped up and really helped us out. If I needed to go to the store, the doctor, or even just go grab a bite to eat one of the ladies was always willing to help me out! I remember thinking I was going to run out of diapers the day before I was to fly home and it was after hours but they said to call if I needed anything! So picking up the phone and calling wasn’t an issue, I made the call and they made sure that someone brought me some diapers ASAP! They helped us out with the two visits we had with our daughters birth mom during that week in Texas, and called to check on me if I hadn’t called them!

When we received word that the ICPC paperwork was complete and it was okay to leave the state of Texas, once again the Family to Family team jumped in to help! Jennifer drove my daughter and myself to the airport and helped carry in our luggage. She really went above and beyond anything we could have expected! All of the ladies did! We look back on our adoption through Family to Family and cannot imagine it going any more smoothly than it did! And they have continued to be so kind and helpful with keeping us posted on how things were going when the police were having a difficult time serving the papers to the birth father, and what we needed to do at 6 months to finalize our adoption.

One other thing that really sticks out in my mind is how they treated our daughters birth mother. They loved her, and treated her with respect and kindness every second that they could. She was not just some lady that had a baby, she was a human being with feelings and cares, that to me was one of the most important things I remember!

We look forward to when we are able to grow our family through adoption again. And we will be calling none other than Family to Family Adoptions, Inc.!

See more adoptive family stories here.