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Adoption
Agency Selection Question
Hello All! I have a question in regards to agency selection. My husband and I are just beginning the DIA process. We went to a seminar in October, and had an intake meeting last Friday. We picked our agency based off of requirements... How did everyone else chose their agency?
We are from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and the agency we are going with is Adoption Minnesota. Does anyone have any information/experience/reviews about them? So far we like them, but I feel maybe we haven't looked hard enough. We requested a few other agencies information, but there requirements didn't fit our viewpoints. Some of the big ones near are all religious affiliated and we're not religious people, so I feel like we would have a disadvantage. Some also had marriage length requirements. We've been married just shy of 2 years, but we've been together 8, so setting limitations seems somewhat rude in my opinion. I think I am questioning things because its a huge life experience and financially scary! I would love to hear how you came to your agency selection. Or if your from MN, maybe the agency you chose as some personal experience with them would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
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Re: Agency Selection Question
We chose our agency using a variety of criteria. We wanted something fairly local so we had face to face interaction, and that gave us 3 options. One agency never returned our calls, and turnover seemed to be high. I started hearing their placement rates were ridiculously low due to arbitrary rules, and crossed them off the list.
We talked to 2 other agencies, asking similar questions of each--licensing, placement rates, what the homestudy was like (DH's big stumbling block), etc. The agencies were very different. One was small, basically run by one woman who contracted out a lot of the process (homestudy, finalization), and had relatively low fees. We talked to her on the phone and I didn't like her at all. DH was willing to still consider that agency because of the fees. The other agency was large, well established, and had good reviews from people we'd talked to. We talked to them on the phone as well and LOVED them. But their fees were twice was the smaller agency were. And DH takes forever to make decisions, so he sat on it for a couple of months.
Ultimately it came down to a recommendation from DH's co-worker. She and her H had used the larger agency as the homestudy agency for their international adoption, and couldn't say enough good things about them.
IMO it's somewhat like any other major thing in your life, like buying a house. The first one may be exactly what you're looking for, so you don't need to waste any more time. But yes, it's easy to second-guess yourself. Our agency was in the process of closing their IA program, so there was some drama around that, and people were spreading weird rumors. We asked our SW some hard questions in the middle of our adoption process because I started freaking out. Turns out the rumors were just that, and the agency continues to exist and expand their services.
So if it looks like it's going well for you, and you're satisfied with their approach, I'd say you're good.