Adoption Q and A # 22

How do I choose the right adoption agency for my journey of adoption?

Choosing an adoption agency is more to do with common sense than anything. There are no official rating agencies to rank the agencies to know the right one for you. You can try some of these common sense guidelines (remember they are only guidelines):

1. Longevity: If an agency has been doing adoptions for a long time, their license has been renewed and it is possible that their record of history might be cleaner than the one which doesn't have any history at all.
2. Pre-Post adoption services: A right agency has to guide the prospective parents in the appropriate channel to make an informed decision. An agency that puts in extraordinary efforts (returning all your phone calls/ emails, voluntarily updating about the progress and conducting post adoption camps etc) to make the journey of adoption easier during/ after the adoption is always the better one than the one which just wants your business.
3. Paying as you go: Adoption is an arduous and a long process. Sometimes it can take 24 months. So if an agency asks you to a pay lump sum amount of money to begin the process, you must question the logic. An agency that has a policy of "Pay as you go" can be trusted to some extent.
4. Financial disclosure: Ask the agency if you'll receive receipts for all your transactions. See if you'll receive an approximate 'statement of expenses' to have an idea of the financial burden.
5. Referrals: Do not ask the agency for names but join some of the online lists to ask a question. Ask the replier to write to you privately. Once you establish the line of communication, you need to ask tough questions.
6. Trustworthiness: Cross check information that they give to make sure that they can be trusted. It is better to maintain a diary to make entries of all your communications with an agency so that you can cross check anything that might be inconsistent.
7. Gut feeling: Most of us have gut feelings and most of the time they are correct. If you have a gut feeling about something, it is better to ask than to keep it to yourself. There have been cases of relinquishing the rights after the adoption because they felt the child was not appropriate to them.
8. Common pitfalls: Do not go in for the nearest or the cheapest agency. In India you can adopt from anywhere in the country so do not restrict yourself to the state of your residence.

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