[JMarkham]

HI,

My husband and I are a bi-racial couple looking to adopt and AA infant or bi-racial infant. We are just completing our homestudy paper work. We are having a hard time deciding whether to use an agency a facilitator or both. Does anyone have any advice, and any suggestions on which ones to use we are trying to keep our costs as low as possible. Thanks in advance for the help.

Jamie

[LisaCA]

if facilitators are allowed in your state (not all states allow them), they can be a good option. we used an agency for our homestudy and postplacement visits, and a facilitator to handle the match. we loved our facilitator who gave us a personal touch to our adoption, holding our hand during the process, coordinating paperwork, staying in contact with bmom (and her agency), etc. We picked a reputable facilitator who was a non profit and had a sliding fee scale. we were at the top of the scale, and paid under $5000. they have since changed things so we'd now pay $3800. she was/is definitely worth the extra money since the process can be so alienating.

I should add here that we waited 4.5 weeks from end of homestudy to dd's birth, due mostly to the facilitator. our agency didn't reach out to bmoms, but waited for them to come to the agency-so there were few bmoms coming forward. they predicted at 6months-1 year timeframe, the facilitator said 4 -6 months. I'll pm their info to you.