[lakin11]

Hello all,
I am a foster parent, but have always had the dream of adopting from Guatemala. I have another friend who has adopted one little boy and is now in the process of adopting a daughter from there.
She has me addicted to a photolisting site. I love looking at the babies. My question is this......are there REALLY that many children who are not matched? With as many people adopting from Guatemala, plus the waiting list for girls, why to the listings show so many girls "available for adoption"?

I haven't convinced DH yet to adopt from there...we are still working on adopting our 4 foster children. (Hispanic)
I just cannot get Guatemala out of my heart, and wonder if there are really that many un-matched kids as the listings suggest.

Thanks!

[brink]

You have to be careful of whose photolisting you're using. Sad, but in some instances the children pictured might not even be available for adoption. I've also read here where more than one family is referred the same child, more than one agency posting the photo. But I've also read here of families whose children were discovered on a listing and that child is now home.

[Mandy4President]

I think that sometimes photolisting sites get a bad rap. Mostly you have to be smart and research the agency BEFORE you fall in love with a child. Yeah right, huh? We adopted Addisyn off from a photolisting and had a great experience with our agency. Our first agency doesn't post on a photolisting site and they were horrible. I agree with brink, I've heard that too, but that can happen with agencies that don't post on photolistings. So basically you just have to be careful with the agencies. The agency we used is really good about posting the second a child is accepted as a referral, so they keep the picture on there, but you are aware that they are spoken for.

[JillnChris]

Our daughter was on a photolisting and the agency left her photo up for a few months after we had already signed the POA.

[robandjulie]

I've called about several photolisted children and been told they were available, but since we arne't ready we can't move forward. In time, they are no longer available and then taken down.

Like anything, supply and demand may be well matched, but if it's broken down through an intermediate (agencies) then you're going to have mismatches. Some agencies have a huge network of attny's with loads of contacts and therefore a lot of available children with not enough clients to meet their "supply". Other agencies have a smaller network and get more clients than they have ready referrals. The attny's and kids aren't necessarily interchangeable between agencies so you'll have some people waiting for a newborn baby girl with agency A while agency B is posting newborn baby girls as waiting.

I'd guess the majority of the kids on photolistings who are listed as available truly are, or recently were. If you see a child you are truly interested in, call the agency to get more info on availability and ask around on here or check agency review sites to see if the agency is reputable.

[saranbr]

We just got out of PGN with our guy from a photolisting and we weren't paper ready when we accepted his referral. All I can say is just be REALLY careful. Many of the agencies that photolist have issues if you start doing the research.

[moelladeville]

Consider that most agencies have waiting lists. What kind of agency has to "market" the children they represent -- ones that don't have waiting lists. And they don't have waiting lists for a reason. I do not know one reputable agency that photolists -- JMHO. I used an agency that does, and of my three Guatemalan adoptions with three agencies, the agency that photolisted was, in my opinion, by far the worst.

Be strong, do your homework, and choose a reputable agency. You will save yourself so much heartache. I would suggest you join the adoption agency research yahoo group. (go to groups.yahoo.com and search for adoption agency research). Research agencies you are considering.

You will be paying a considerable amount of money for an adoption, and you want to make sure your investment is a wise one. I know the photos of the children are beautiful, but there are MANY other beautiful children who need homes who can be adopted through reputable agencies. Good luck to you.

[DPline]

My children were both on a photolisting, but they were older - 2.5 months and 1 year. Many people chose Guatemala because you can be referred a newborn and hopefully bring home a very young baby, so older babies and toddlers tend to be harder to place.

Definetely throughly research any agency before signing with them. (The Yahoo group that Moelladeville mentioned is a great resource.) I wouldn't say that there are no good agencies that photolist, but there definetly are a lot of bad apples - that do and don't photolist.

Good luck!

[lakin11]

Thank you for the info. We can't do anything right now, but its not out of my mind. Need to get through the other kids adoptions first! Thanks!

[Guatemom]

just my 2 cents--but I don't believe all photolisting sites are bad as others are indicating. They are intended to maximize the child's chances for finding their forever family. Do some agencies take advantage of this? I'm sure they do and I don't doubt that. Do reputable agencies use this? Yes. And I'm proof as are others on here and on other boards. I am using a very reputable agency (I did my homework), and found my son on a photolisting. Our case is moving right along, and we are thrilled with our agency. So it's all about doing your homework on the agency and taking responsibility for yourself being paper ready.

Also, It does take time to get a matched child removed from a site usually b/c it's handled thru a 3rd party --and your child is placed/matched thru the first party--the agency. The agency has to make the call when & to the 3rd party site to remove the child's availability status. But even if the photolisting site does not right away, when you or anyone inquire you still have to go thru the representing agency of the child, who will tell you if he is still available or not.

I think there is a negative stigma attached, so please don't let that stop you. Just be responsible and don't get ahead of yourself. Call regarding the availability of the child, yes. And remember that even if that child is still available, but you're no where near paper ready--just b/c you're interested doesn't mean that child should be removed or put on hold. Another family may be more paper-ready. So it's not fair to them or the child to hold things up just b/c you saw his/her picture first. Think this is also how miscommunication occurs on a child being "referred" multiple ways, etc. There may be a reason for that, and it's not always b/c it's a bad agency. It may be just that the inquiring family isn't far enough along.

DPLine is right on--there are always of course, bad apples. But don't let that ruin the bunch. Again, I'm proof--and I know of several other families on here, some that already have their kiddos home, some in process, that found their children via photolistings.

Good luck in your research, and congrats on your other adoptions! BTW, this board is also a wealth of info on researching agencies as well.

[KJones5]

When I was considering adopting again, more children than not that I inquired about were already placed. I don't think anyone would disagree that there are a lot of children in Guatemala that need homes (whether they are on a photolisting or not).

To me, the issue with finding a child on a photolisting makes choosing an agency an emotional choice and not a rational decision.

[Excelmom]

We found our agency first, via three different family friends who used them for their adoptions and they happen to use a photolisting. Things have moved along fine with us as well.

I think finding the agency first is a good thing, if they happen to use a photo listing I wouldn't not use them because of it. The photolisting is one part of the whole big picture.

Good luck!

[hesabanana]

Lakin,
I am sorry I have created an addiction for you!

What I did in each case with my adoptions is I found a child on the photolisting that spoke to me, then investigated the agency representing him/her. As my fellow forum members will remember, I asked for feedback on a particular agency, and got horrible information, and had to decide not to pursue that child. You will often see postings here asking for feedback on a particular agency, and forum members are really great about providing information.

Brenda

[lakin11]

Yes Brenda, this is ALL YOUR FAULT! Ha! I just love looking at the babies. Maybe b/c all but D were bigger when we got them. *If* we get DD's sib or the trios sib, then we are more then full.....that would be 6 EEK! We'll see what the future holds....in the meantime, I'll just have to drool over your two cuties haha! (and R too!)