How does a person know which adoption agency is best for his needs?

ais4adoption

My best friend wants to adopt a baby from an adoption agency and she asked me to suggest him the best adoption agency. She is 22 and has a good job too. I just want to know, how could I found an adoption agency best for her? What should I do? 

Dr.Loretta

Your friend will have to do the research and see what works best for her and her family. At 22, her age may be an issue (some have minimum age requirements). Things that are important to her need to be considered. Some things to consider are whether the agency is faith-based or not, whether they're open to placing with single people, gay/lesbian couples, whether they have a different fee schedule based on the baby's race, whether their fees are manageable, whether they charge on a sliding scale based on income, etc. There are websites where she can look for reviews from people who have used specific agencies.

And sometimes it just comes down to calling some, having a conversation, and seeing if they "click"

plus12012

I think what agency works best for someone is a very personal decision. The best way to find out what they are comfortable with is for them to speak with others that have adopted and find out their experiences with different agencies. They should also visit agencies and talk to workers to see how they feel about them and what their policies and expectations are as well as cost and wait times.

MagickalNarwhal

Our criteria were:

1. Local (in order to facilitate a very open adoption we wanted to match with someone in the same geographic region)

2. Ethical, non-coercive and supportive in treatment of expectant parents, with lifetime counseling available post placement

3. Non religious and queer-friendly

That narrowed it down to 2 agencies for us, and we picked ours based on a few factors, including fixed fees and a system where potential adoptive parents have a social worker and the expectant parents have a different social worker, which we felt would reduce conflicts of interest.

But SHE needs to do her research. Why are you trying to find an agency for her?