[jojo13551122]

My question is two-fold.
My first question is agency specific which I know you can only PM about.
We are in Chicago and are trying to decide between Lifelink, which works directly with Eastern in Korea. The other is The Cradle that goes through Spence-Chapin that goes through SWS in Korea. Has anyone worked with either and can offer your experience?

My second question is more general.
How did you ultimatley decide on an agency? And what ended up being the most important factor to why you did or did not like the agency you chose? Or any other factors we should be for sure asking about?
Are there any pros or cons to an agency that uses Eastern or SWS?

Thanks so much. We are looking to apply in March and having a hard time deciding.

Thanks!

[Max'smom]

Hi,
We chose on the basis of reptuation and how long the agency had been in existence as well as convenience. We chose before we had selected Korea (at the time, we thought we would probably adopt from China). I eliminated 1 organization because it was a very long drive. I then eliminated another organization because at the information session they seemed to be using a sales pitch that wasn't honest (e.g., someone would ask them a valid question and they would pretend that it wasn't any concern). Then I chose the one we went with after we had narrowed our options down to 2 good agencies that both seemed reputable, and we went with the one that had a Korea program because that suddenly seemed to be the right country for us.
Good luck!
MM

p.s. I can't comment on your agencies - we didn't come across them.

[jojo13551122]

I wanted to say quickly that I know a few of you have named your daughters Joannna...good choice! That's my name, thought my signature is JoJo

[hopeful2adopt]

I pm'ed you.

[Hopeful_Jen]

We are begining down the path towards our second adoption and are seriously considering Korea. We are also in the Chicagoland area and are looking into agencies. Feel free to PM me. (We went through The Cradle for our Russian adoption.)

[racytracy]

I'll PM you.

Tracy

[teachamy]

Hey JoJo,
We thought that might also be our Joanna's nickname! (time will tell!)

[bugfree]

We chose the agency based on the amount of time it would take to adopt.

One agency oin my state would take about 3 years....the other took a year. I choose the agency with the shortest wait and I am really glad I did. :-)