[crick]

We adopted a sibling group of 4 almost 3 years ago. We didn't do any fostering at all and we went through a private agency.

For us, the pros were having a faciliator on our side so to speak and mediate with the social worker and state, as well as help us find the right match by telling us what terms like "needs a lot of structure, charming etc" could really mean and whether or not we felt confident that we could handle certain issues etc. Obviously we didn't deal with a long term placement only to have custody returned to the state or bfamily etc., and we were only willing to accept a placement where termination of rights had already happened. (You could accept a legal risk placement though if you are comfortable with that)

I also like the fact that now almost 3 years later, I still keep in touch every now and then with our mediator and can call on the agency for support anytime we need it. Excellent resource for us when needing counselling etc.

Another pro for us was that our agency worked very closely with the counties in our state and knew of possible placements very quickly and before the kids were listed on the waiting child websites etc.

Cons - everything happened so quick for us. We first heard about the kids in April, met with their sw in May & had the meeting with the foster parents etc, and then towards the end of May we met the kids. Had weekend visits, then a week visit and then 2 weeks. Were placed with us permanently August 1st. So it was a very quick process when trying to bond and get a routine down etc. We did hold off on finalizing until the following April but could have finalized in December, 6 months after placement.

Other cons were not being able to meet the bfamily at all just to have an idea what they were like and be able to answer the kids' questions that pop up later. Plus, no baby pics or some medical information that I'd like to have was not available.

There are some other issues relating to a sibling group adoption but figure I'll save those for another post. Hope this helps?