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Adoptions for the year 2019 continues its downward spiral. We continue to get calls from hopeful adoptive couples who have had their dreams of adopting a child destroyed by adoption agencies/attorneys promising a great deal but delivering nothing. These couples are very vulnerable, so I felt the need to post these concerns/warnings.
- If an adoption agency/attorney states that they can place a child in your home by the holidays (Christmas), this is a red flag.
- If the ratio of waiting families to adoption placement is over 1 (i.e 1 waiting family for every adoption placement) that is a red flag. I think this is the most important factor in the ability of an adoption agency to place children in your home. Independent Adoption Center, who filed for bankruptcy in 2017 had over 600 couples waiting for a placement. They told everyone they talked to that they could place a child in your home in no more than 18 months. In their bankruptcy filing they had over 3,000 couples at various stages and almost all of them had waited without any placements for years. Using the best numbers for IAC, their ratio was clearly 6:1, not 1:1. Most of their couples waited more than 4 to 6 years for a placement, not 18 months. Likewise, smaller adoption agencies have the same problem. An agency in PA has 12 couples waiting and they do no more than 3 placements a year. Yet, they state they can find you a placement within a year. An agency in GA has 15 couples waiting and have yet to do a single placement this year. This agency is advertising 18 months for a placement. Likewise, an agency in UT has over one hundred couples waiting and only does 30 placements a year. It's also a red flag if an adoption agency/attorney does not publish or give you these numbers about their performance.
- Lastly, almost all the adoption agencies I've spoke with are all stating that no placements are occurring for couples over the age of 40. A number of these agencies state they will work with couples older than 40, but it's very rare for a couple over 40 to receive a placement that results in finalization. Also, be aware that many agencies will show you the door, retain all fees, and close your adoption file once you hit 40.
I cannot imagine the grief and emotion upheaval that these childless couples feel when told they cannot have children. I just don't want to see these couples suffer additional heartache by selecting an adoption agencies/attorneys that will not be able to place a child in your home.
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