[JanelleD]

Boy, I haven't posted here in a long time!! We are talking again about adopting and so we are once again gathering all the info.

Anyways, I know some agencies have photolistings of available children. What is your opinion of that? I know I read somewhere that "good" agencies don't do that.

Just curious if that has any bearing on an agency's reputation.

Thanks,
Janelle

[becky]

It not necessarily the case that 'good' agencies do not use photolistings...I know of a couple that use them for older and special needs children.

The issue is that many people feel that young children should not be placed on a photolisting, as they are often used as 'bait' to lure in a family to choosing an agency without doing their homework on the agency. It's very easy to fall in love with a photo of a beautiful infant and be willing to overlook negative feedback on the agency.

Also...many of the really good agencies have a waiting list of clients. Why is that? Because they have spent years building up their reputation in Guatemala and people who do their research know that they are getting a great agency, and a lot of people are willing to 'wait' in order to work with an agency who has spent years developing their program in Guatemala.

There are always going to be people who tell you their wonderful stories about how they chose their children off of a photolisting....and there certainly are many cases where it has led to a happy adoption for everyone involved. However, for every happy family, there are also MANY unhappy families, who ended up waiting long periods of time for their adoptions to complete, because they fell in love with a picture and didn't do their homework about the agency involved.

Bottom line....if you want to look at photolistings, do so, just do your research on every agency you are considering...and do it well.

[wvamom]

Good advice, Becky! The agency we used sometimes has photo listings, but frequently places children so quickly that they don't have pictures on their web site.

The other problem with a photo-listing is that unless you are paper-ready (which is pretty tough to do since different agencies use different forms) you will wait longer before you can bring home your child.

Our baby wasn't on a photo-listing, but we weren't quite paper-ready when we got his referral, so there was even more of a rush for us to do the docs--somehow, knowing that THAT BABY is going to be yours is so much more motivating than just knowing you have to complete documents.

Good luck to you!

[babyjsmom]

Both my children Victor and Kendra were found on photolistings..... Like Becky said they are older children. So far so good! Victor is home & Kendra is moving along...

Be careful, I investigated my agency and made sure they were reputable first! then went to the listings.

If I wanted an infant I probably would be on a waiting list, unless I wanted an infant boy, they have far more boys than girls....

Good Luck to you - Jenn

[thesojourners]

there are some agencies that are good, some that our not. The agency we went with has fantastic reviews, and they do photolist . . . but you can't accept a referral unless you are either paper-ready or close to it, unless that child is unusually difficult to place.

We nearly went with another agency XXXXX because we fell in love with kids on their photolisting. But when we found very negative reviews, we walked away . . . and I am so glad we did.

We've been so happy with our agency. And I'm always lurking on precious.org looking at their listings only . . . wondering if I could manage another adoption!

[brookeinmn]

We researched agencies and then learned that they listed on precious.org. We signed with the agency and about a month later found our son on precious. The agency mostly posts boys that are babies or older kids. There is rarely a baby girl on there for my agency.