Adoption Agency

Hi L.,

The Gladney Center for Adoption in Fort Worth...is the way to go. Our 8 month old son is a Gladney baby. We went through the domestic program and waited 13 months for placement. It has been the greatest experience of my life. Gladney has been around for almost 130 years. My advice is to go to their website www.gladney.org and explore. If you have more questions please e-mail me ____@____.com.

M.

SAHM

I noticed that someone said Catholic Counseling Services, I just wanted to warn you that they are an awesome adoption agency but all of there adoptions are open adoptions. So unless you are willing to allow the biological parents to be in the picture I would pick another agency.

My husband and I adopted our daughter from Hope Cottage in Dallas almost 2 years ago. We really enjoyed our counselor from there, but she has left. We are currently trying to adopt another child, but this time we are using an agency in Wichita Falls, called Inheritance Adoptions. They are a small Christain based agency. If you have any questions about adoption or just want to talk feel free to email me back through Mamasource and I will give you my contact number. I have done a LOT of reading on adoptions and been through 3 agencies (we left the first one for some upsetting reasons). I am a HUGE advocate of open adoptions and could not ever imaging loving my daughter any more than than I do than if I gave birth to her myself.
B.

We adopted our daughter through Covenant Kids. www.covenantkids.org They are foster/adoption agency with offices in Arlington and Plano. We fostered our daughter first although she was placed with us at birth and we never had any involvement with her bio parents so the adoption went smooth. She is now 17 months old and the best decision we ever made. We used this agency because we did not have the money for a traditional adoption. The only fees involved are the attorney fees at the time of adoption which were around $1000.

I have a friend who is going through her second adoption through Hope Cottage. She has commented that it is far better than her previous adoption agency (which was in San Antonio). I was also adopted through Hope Cottage, and although that was almost 40 years ago, my parents have never had any complaints . . . about the agency that is. Complaints about me may be a different story. Ha ha.
Good luck!
E.

Dear L.,
Best of luck to you! We have two beautiful daughters adopted at birth from Loving Alternative Adoption Agency in Tyler, TX. (now ages 3 and 20 months.) It is a Christian Agency-- lots of questions about your faith through the initial process--so you must be a married Christian couple to apply. We LOVE our agency-- and cannot say enough good things about them. I would love to share more with you if you are interested! Please respond!
Also-- Stonebriar Community Church has an infertility support group for those waiting for child-- even the 2nd time around-- I can get you in touch with that, too, if you would like!
Best of luck to you!
A.

L.:

I will throw my 2 cents into this mix of opinions. I personally came through Hope Cottage and as a child my family had total confidence in them, but.....As an adult there are issues with missing paperwork that they admitted to me they have no idea where it was filed, etc. I would definitely steer clear of them. I would either do it privately through and attorney or through a Christian agency only, which I have seen several listed here.

I would not suggest an open adoption at all and am bitterly against them. I personally feel closed and sealed is best for everyone involved. I have been the adopted child and adoptive mother and feel I have experienced both sides of the issue.

If you would like to discuss it further please IM or e-mail me and I will be glad to discuss it with you.
____@____.com

Good luck!

J.

I would call a church and see. I have a friend that went the adoption route and paid all the money for the moms bills etc and when the baby was born the mom changed her mind. My friend got $0 of her money back. She said if she could do it all over again she would go through a chruch.

We adopted 2 children -both 10 months old (not bio related) from Krasnoyarsk, Russia. We brought them home in Dec 2004 so they've been home 2 years. We went through America World Adoption Association in Virginia-www.awaa.org
If you're interested in Russia adoption this website is a message forum for people adopting from Russia
www.frua.org
Please contact me if you have any questions. I'd be glad to help.
A.

Gladney Center in Fort Worth... http://www.adoptionsbygladney.com/

A friend of mine owns her own adoption agency called Adoption Family Services. Her name is Melissa Robinson and she is wonderful. Her website is: www.adoptfamilyservices.com
Her number is: ###-###-####. Please let her know C. Cox referred you. Good luck!!

We adopted in 2005 from Lifetree Adoption Agency here in Dallas. They are a Christian based agency. They are very small and therefore can give you great one on one service. I highly recommend them. You can look them up at Lifetreeadoption.com

I would be happy to talk to you about my process with them if you want to message me.

We have friends that have used Hope Cottage in Dallas, and others who have used Gladney for both international and U.S. adoptions.

I guess the first question is: are you looking to adopt domestically or internationally? If domestically, are you looking for an adoption out of the foster care system, a private adoption, or an agency adoption? Once you narrow these options down, it gets a little easier.

We have two internationally adopted children and LOVED our agency, America-World Adoption Association (www.america-world.org). But different agencies have different policies, different levels of service, and different fees. Some do EVERYTHING for you that is possible, and charge more. Some do less and charge less. Some give better instructions than others. Etc., Etc. Feel free to PM me with questions - I'd be happy to discuss more privately.

B.

Try contacting Buckner Baptist Benevolences, I don't know the number, they are located downtown (call information) and they have other locations like a retirement home and I think an orphanage, but they have adoption services and international adoptions.

Are you planning on domestic or international adoption? We used Children's Hope International (St. Louis) to adopt our two children from Russia. Buckner (here in the DFW area) is very well respected also. Let me know if I can help in any way.

B.

L.,
We went through Christian Homes (in Abilene) and had the experience of a lifetime. Check them out at www.christianhomes.com. They have been in business for over 40 years and are a very loving, personal agency. We will go through them for a 2nd baby without even considering any other agency. Good luck and best wishes! Adoption is a wonderful thing!
J. M.

Hey L.,
We used Lifetree Adoption Agency to adopt our daughter 28 months ago. It was a very smooth process and we loved our agency. One of the two directors has also been through what you and I have (IVF etc) and know how it is. They are in N. Dallas and I think I've already recommended them in the listing under adoption. We had a great experience with them.
Good Luck!

I know you have received a lot of advice already. I just couldn't let this go without my comments. We received the best gift ever in March 2005 from the Gladney Center in Ft. Worth. Our daughter was created just for us, and now we are approved and waiting for baby #2. The program we used (domestic) allows you to comment on what you are willing to take (both in terms of race and exposure to illnesses and drugs/alcohol). I really appreciated how Gladney takes care of their birthmoms, too. We did have an adoption fall through (the birthmom changed her mind), and Gladney helped us get through that. We lost no money, a danger of going independently, and they helped connect us. They have been around so long, there is not the scare of anything going wrong legally speaking. We wouldn't dream of going with anyone else. www.gladney.org is their website and you can always attend an orientation for free just to learn about them. Please, don't hesitate to contact me and I would be willing to talk to you more about the programs they have available. They are AWESOME!!!

I would go with either Hope Cottage or Lutheran social services. Best of luck.

My sister in law and her husband just finished adopting a little girl from Russia in July they used light house adoption agency. And from what she has told me they are wonderful. Her is the link to her website http://www.loveforpoppie.com/Dreaming.html

and the link to light house adoption
http://www.lighthouseadoptions.net/

Hope this helps
K.

Well, we went through Hope Cottage to adopt our son 2 years ago. They're excellent- easy and friendly.

The Gladney Center in Ft Worth is awesome.... not only do they do so much to help create families but they really help birth mothers with counseling, school, etc. Our oldest son 15 was adopted thru Gladney & we feel as tho we could still go to them for assistance if we 0r our son had any questions or concerns... they also have community auxilleries made up of adoptive & pre adoptive families that offer great support at any place in the adoption process that you are in. Our other children (10 yr 0ld twins) were concieved thru invitro... so I've been on both sides.. they are all beautiful children.. God just sent them into our lives by different means.
E.