[ewink]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are finally ready to adopt. We have been pretty much ready for quite a while, but wanted to give ourselves some time to deal with our fertility issues. We have been ttc for over 2 years now. I m/c more than 1.5 years ago, and we've both had lots of testing. DH is fine, and since the only thing they could find wrong with me was a fibroid, they labelled me with "unexplained infertility". I believe that my hormones got completely out of wack after my m/c, and that that also caused the fibroid to grow (didn't have that before). Also, I am 35.5. Anyhow, for the last 4 months or so, I have been in the care of a homeopath/naturopath and have also done some hypnotherapy with counseling recently. I feel a whole lot better these days, but just don't want to spend the next several years ttc and letting life pass by me anymore. We just really want a child! DH has been emotionally ready to adopt longer than me. I think I needed these last few months to deal with everything emotionally.

But now that we're both ready to adopt, we're so excited about it!

We have done some research and reading, and know some basic things. But any insights and help is more than welcome!!

We are looking into adopting a domestic newborn baby, and I'm wondering if anybody here has had any experiences (good or bad) with any agencies and/or adoption attorneys in the Northern CA area. We are about 1 hour North-East from Sacramento, but the Bay Area is good too.

Thanks so much in advance,

Edith

[2aces]

We are in Northern California also, I are using a wonderful adoption attorney/agency. email us if you are interested and we will give you the name.

[Sabra]

Hi Edith:

Welcome to the forums.

Here are some agencies in North Calif. to check out:

http://www.independentadoptioncenter.com/
and
http://adopting.org/Nanci/

Also you will find some in the http://www.adoptiondirectory.com

Best to you in your adoption journey.

Warm regards,

[ISW]

Hi,

I also heard that Susan Romer in San Francisco does open adoptions. Run a search on her name and her url will pop up. I heard good things about her but don't have any direct experience with her.

A couple of things you might want to ask anyone or any agency:
What is the maximum amount of couples they will work with at any given time? (You don't want to be one couple in 300 waiting for a baby).

What kind of networking do they do? Are they a national agency?

What statistics do they have to show you regarding their success rate for your type of adoption? (by type I mean, ethnicity, age of child etc...)

What are the payment terms and is any/all of it refundable if need be?

What if you are matched with a birthmother in another state that is not affiliated with the agency? What will be the agency's role in this type of situation?

Hope this helps...

[live2bhappy2003]

Hi,

We're in the same area, but didn't choose to work with any agency here in CA. Why? We found a lot more "situations" across the country and before the ink was dry on our homestudy, we adopted. If you're open to biracial, AA, or other, check out
www.nurtureadopt.org; www.heavensentadopt.com

We found our own through nurture adopt, it was great.

There is Adoption Connection in SF, and Pact Alliance in Oakland, Adopt International in Redwood City, all good, but don't place that many per year, and the cost for adoptions is high. I would look into the avenues I metioned.

Good luck!