[TXMOM]

Aggieamy...

Pam,
I appreciate your imput on LSSS, can you tell me which doctors to call in Houston to get their imput? Also any more specifics about how they took money upfront, how they made everything so difficult, and the estimated referral time? I do think that the referral time can be different for everyone and I don't really care about having to wait as long as I end up with the right child we are requesting.

I did call them and they will work with my medical history and give us photos and meds before we travel which is very important to us. They told me they work in 30 regions and have done about 100 adoptions in the past year.

I also am a realist and know that snags will develop no matter which agency we use. I am just so confused to see such great things about them on most of the posts and such a horrible post from you.

TXMOM...

[aggieamy]

I am not using LSSS. I said that from the beginning. I also said that there are bound to be wonderful stories about them. I happen to know some bad ones. If you feel comfortable with them then go for it. Every case is different. I was telling the truth- as much of the truth as I can tell since the families have already been a little "too" vocal on the subject. If I could reveal anything else I would. And yes I hate saying that crap too, but when lawsuits and children are in the balance I will. Obviously I have already said too much since now everyone and their brother will be reading this. All these does is encourage people to keep their negative stories to themselves. Call the agency and have them give you some references if you want to talk to others who have used them. Clearly they would not give you bad references. I am just waiting for an email from them asking for me to keep my opinion to myself. Since I do not work with them, I can tell you what I think. And I think they are horrible. I do hope and pray that your experience with them is wonderful and as quick as you want it to be.

Amy

[TXMOM]

Well, we are very early in the process and actually I have no idea who we will end up using in the end. I feel terrible that there was such a problem for your friends and I know you are right when it comes to the agencies not giving out neg information. What a mess....I guess keep praying for the right direction is all I can do.

You mentioned that you are using FTIA, who is that and where are you in the process?

thanks for your help....

[aggieamy]

FTIA- Families Thru International Adoption- is our agency and they are wonderful! I have been told they are more expensive than others, but we are adopting two little girls who are not related- so it would have been expensive no matter who we picked. FTIA has been awesome, and dealt with an emergency that came up while we were on our first trip like pros. I would recommend them to anyone because they have been upfront and honest from the get go. I have asked a thousand silly questions, and they totally put up with me. It is just so hard to find an agency- and one that works for me may not work for someone else. (My mom says it is like a marriage- some are more issues than others.) All in all I hate to discourage anyone from following their heart, but unless we are all honest with each other than the really horrible agencies will continue to treat people bad.

We are about to go on our second trip to pick up Katie and Gracie! We leave in 8 days (who's counting?) and they will offically be ours on the 27th!!!! We started the first week of September, will be home with them the first week of February.... 5 months and a whole lot of worries, miles, smiles and love later we will finally be a family. (5 months really isn't that long, but it has felt that way!)

I wish you all the best. We switched agencies in the beginning and I hated to do it. But it was right for us, and we have found our daughters. I hope everyone gets to find their babies soon.

Amy
By the way I am from TX originally. Thus the "Aggie" in my name

[marinas mom]

Hi Texas Mom! I saw a post of yours on another thread and noticed you were in FLower Mound. Have you considered the Gladney Center? I am in Ft. Worth and used them to adopt my daughter. My brother and sis in law used them to adopt their daughter from Guatamala.

They are GREAT!! We all had great experiences with them.

[jtraut28]

Hi all ~ I'm using LSSS for our adoption, but you all have me very worried now!! Would anyone mind sharing what you're all talking about or please refer me to the original post about horrible experience w/ LSSS...I'd like to read it so I can prepare myself for what might happen. We are not too far along in the process to switch, but by next week or so we really will be too far along to switch. Please reply, I'm very worried.

Jodi

[TXMOM]

Jodi - Jtraut28,

I got some good info from Pam - plgorzell in a PM, you need to chat with her....

I am still trying to figure this board and how the PM works...

[soontobe]

We are with an agency that takes a very long time to give referrals. If I could've went with the agency AggieAmy is using I definitely would have. I think our costs are a little lower, but not much. We are going to have to wait another 6-9 months for one boy/one girl referral. And someone else I know requested 2 girls and turned in their dossier early last year and have been in the entire process for 14 months and they still don't have a court date for their 2nd trip. So if I could've adopted 2 in 5 months I would've much rather gone that route.

I hope you find an agency that will make this process as quick and painless as possible.

soontobe

[drliz]

Dear adoptive parents,

The post from Aggie Amy was brought to my attention and as one of the IA docs in Houston I would like to respond. My partners and I (the only IA group in Houston) have not had the negative experiences described by Aggie Amy with regards to LSSS.

As an IA doctor, I have no loyalties to any agencies. I am hired by parents in order to help them understand the health risks which are apparent in children being considered for adoption.
My partners and I review referrals from dozens of agencies and we have found LSSS to be especially responsive when we have raised concerns about children referred for adoption. I truly feel that the folks at this agency have their hearts in the right place and try to get the most healthy, appropriate referrals for their clients. With Eastern European adoptions, this is no easy task. Many of the children in Eastern Europe who are available for adoption have significant health problems and/or unanswered questions about their long-term prognosis. It is not unusual for families to have to consider multiple referrals before they find one with which they are comfortable proceeding. Without a doubt, international adoption is an emotionally difficult process for most families. For families I have helped through the adoption process, the my understanding and feeling is that the professionals at LSSS have provided appropriate and at times extraordinary help through this difficult process.

Sincerely,
Dr. Liz

[papedge]

If this dr. liz from texas children her and dr. hittie are great doctors to work with they helped us with out referral and when our son came home they were there for us.

[aggieamy]

It is amazing to me that I SAID UP FRONT I was not using LSSS and that what I telling in a PM was simply what I had heard. I am not that family so how would I know how accurate the information is. I never hid the fact that I was not using LSSS and had no direct experience with them. Instead I get reamed. Trust me I will not share my opinion again, or any experience I know of. As long as everyone has "wonderful" adoption stories than they can share them, but you better keep the negative ones to yourself or your name will be the topic of a post where people criticize you. I did not use an IA in Houston. Obviously I should not have shared with anyone, anything, even in a PM. Honestly doesn't seem to work here. I said to contact the agnecy and other references and instead you get the IA to contact me. Nice.

Goodbye. And, for those of you who were considering sharing a negative experience- warning keep it to yourself or you will hear about it!

[chucknfw]

I don't understand why you are so defensive. You raised some questions that are quite critical about an organization in which you don't have direct experience with. And you seem to be upset that there are people who have experience with this organization who feel the need to defend them because they are happy with quality of service that they provide.

Are you trying to defend something you shouldn't have said?
That's what it looks like from this last post.

I think that all should be very careful in researching who they are going to use to help them choose their children. Lets have an open forum for critique and lets also be open to challenges to the critique