Adoption Agencies of Adoption Facilitators?

We hope that for your sake, and the sake of your child, that you will learn the difference between an adoption facilitator who may have no training or adoption expertise and a licensed adoption agency that is legally accountable to ensure that you receive appropriate information and services.

There are many choices you have if you are thinking about placing your child for adoption.  One area of choice concerns who will help you step-by-step through your pregnancy, through the birth, placement, and ending of your parental rights, who will screen and select the adopting family, and who will be around to help you with the emotional issues which arise after the adoption has taken place. This area of choice deals with whether you proceed with an agency or private adoption and whether you decide to use an adoption agency, an attorney, or an adoption facilitator. 

In an independent or private adoption, a person ( attorney, physician, or adoption facilitator) can act as an intermediary to match up an adoptive family with a birth mother.   An intermediary or adoption facilitator is any person or entity that is not an approved or licensed agency that acts on behalf of any birth parent or prospective adoptive parent in connection with the placement of the child for adoption. In some states adoption facilitators are licensed, but there are many more where the adoption facilitators are unlicensed and unsupervised. 

While licensed adoption agencies are staffed by trained professionals, are regulated by the state and are held accountable for their actions, many adoption facilitators are not licensed and are not legally held accountable for their actions.  This lack of licensure and supervision has resulted in so many complaints that the U.S. Department of State strongly recommends not working with an adoption facilitator but recommends working only with a licensed adoption agency.

We also strongly urge you to select an adoption agency rather than a private individual or an adoption facilitator.  An adoption agency that is licensed by the state is the safest bet. They are run and operated by experienced and credentialed professionals and, as part of the licensing process, take the extra steps to insure that the adoption process is done correctly, the baby is placed in a loving and safe home, and that your physical and emotional needs are addressed before, during and after the adoption.

If you need additional information or assistance please feel free to contact us at Adoption Services.  You can also contact Dr Vince Berger who is a licensed psychologist who has been helping birth mothers and birth fathers for 40 years.