[aclee]

Hi..DH and I are looking at adoption agencies for an AA or biracial infant. We've come across a couple in UT that promise extrememly short wait times. 2-8 weeks once we're paper ready. Any experience with agencies promising that short a wait time? We are looking for agencies that are out west since they seem to have more AA and biracial infants available. Then speaking with a local agency here in MA that we were considering to do our home study, she just about laughed out loud with the idea that I would even need an agency. She said if they did our home study, they would just pass our info on to one of the many e-mails she gets daily from Lawyers, facilitators and agencies that e-mail and ask if they have families for an AA or bi-racial infant. She said that as long as our expected costs were reasonable (didn't get into numbers with her) we would have an infant within a month of our home study completion. I know this does happen for some families that are open to an infant beside CC, but I also know familes who budget is larger than ours and they are waiting. Any advice is so greatly appreciated. Post here, or PM me with specific agency advice. We would really like to balance cost with speed (don't we all..LOL) but I think our budget, not including travel, post adoption services and finalization would be around 15K. Thanks so much!

Amy

[Juliana13]

Can you share with me the ones in Utah that you have found? My brother is there, and he and his wife want to adopt an AA/biracial girl (they already have 2 boys). I would love to have that info to pass on to them. Thanks!

[rredhead]

Hey,

Utah has laws that are very friendly to adoptive parents... but not so friendly to expectant/birth parents. You may want to check them out, the laws, that is.
Do you need an agency? No. But!! An agency - a good agency - will give both you and the expectant parents support. A good agency will make counseling available to expectant moms. A good agency will ensure that no one's rights are trampled on. A good agency will offer support if the adoption falls through. A good agency will work with you throughout the match and the birth, into post-placement.
You have to be very careful about facilitators. In general, they cost more and offer less. We got gouged by a facilitator passing itself off as an agency.

She said if they did our home study, they would just pass our info on to one of the many e-mails she gets daily from Lawyers, facilitators and agencies that e-mail and ask if they have families for an AA or bi-racial infant.

This route can be very effective. You may want to start out with this, and, if you don't get the results that you want, or the support that you need, then you have your options open to sign with an agency or not.

[adopting_again]

We adopted in PA and were blessed with a BR PA child. We went through an agency associated with the state's health system. Our paperwork was complete April 06 and we had her by Aug. 06. In this area, that seems to be a quick placement. This agency only placed about 9 AA/BR children a year. It depends on a lot, and remember, you are possibly being chosen by a birthmother/father, not just random waiting for the next available baby. Good luck.

[TKMOM]

Hello: My DH & I are just starting to look into adopting an AA child (infant to 5 yrs old). Would much appreciate any recommendations for good agencies to work with. We are located in So California. Thank you!

[loveajax]

TkMom, my friend who has a biracial DD (thru a private adoption) lives in San Diego and was told that there are many available young AA children thru the foster system (which also would as I understand it keep you from having to pay costs to an agency)...just a thought! Good luck!!

[TKMOM]

Thanks Loveajax. We will check out that option as well.