What Makes A Good Adoption Agency?

Are you working with an adoption agency or trying to choose an adoption agency and wondering what makes a good adoption agency? I know some of the challenges that hopeful adoptive parents struggle with during this step is ensuring they make the right investment with the right partner.  

Today I will walk you through how to make sure you choose the right adoption agency based on your adoption journey. If you've already picked your adoption agency partner, don't be worried. These tips will still help you evaluate whether or not you have the right partner. Most importantly, I'll give you a few tips that apply if you are in that spot where you think you haven’t picked the right partner and how you can salvage the relationship to make it still work so that you don't lose your financial investment. 

Here are 7 things to look for when choosing an adoption agency

1. Can you easily communicate with them?

2. They are transparent and flexible with the process

3. When it comes to your adoption profile, they allow you to create your own

4. They openly share how any agency fees are spent

5. They encourage you to also pursue self-matching

6. They speak with potential expectant parents when you find them to help you screen them

7. They do not share other hopeful adoptive parents with those expectant parents without your permission

Can you easily communicate with them?

The first thing to look for when choosing an agency partner is that you can easily communicate with them. Are they easily reachable? Can you generally be on the same page for the questions you're asking and the information they're providing? Is there any sort of big communication barrier? Now, this can be a little hard when you're just starting because they will use words that don't make sense to you. They'll say things like revocation period, finalization, TPR, and ICPC. Google will be your friend. You can also jump into my Adoption Coach Facebook Group and ask whatever. That group is your safe space, and we'll answer whatever questions you have. You can look on my website too. I have tons of different lists of acronyms and things like that to help you out. The core thing that I want you to know here is that you've got to be able to communicate with them easily. If it's clunky in that initial interview, then maybe not, or perhaps take a second run at it before you make that financial investment.

They are transparent and flexible with the process

The second thing you want to look for when choosing your adoption agency partner is if they are flexible and transparent. Now, they will have a process they want you to follow to succeed in your adoption journey, which is normal. You want them to have a process. If they don't have a process, get out, run fast, and do not give them any money. But you want them to be transparent about how the process works and why it works that way. You want them to be flexible in case that doesn't exactly meet your ideal adoption journey. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to adoptions, and your agency will try to put you into a one-size-fits-all approach just because that's their normal operating procedure. But really, what makes the difference between just an agency and a great agency is that they're going to be a little flexible if they need to be based on your situation. So don't be afraid to ask the question to expect an answer. If they don't give you an answer that feels comfortable to you, ask again in a different way. If you still don't feel comfortable, refer back to number one and move on to the next agency. 

When it comes to your adoption profile, they allow you to create your own

The third that is important when choosing an adoption agency is that they should give you the freedom and flexibility to create your profile as you need to. Of course, they will have a format they prefer, but oftentimes this becomes a real moneymaker for adoption agencies, and I hate to say it that way. There is a lot of overhead when hiring adoption profile experts for their business. I'm not saying don't hire these people; it’s totally fine to do so, but you need to do it with the level of expectation of what type of service you're going to get from them. Are they going to let you be flexible in what you need to provide but also follow their best practices? If they're not, will they allow you to hire an external party and not pay those charges to have them create your adoption profile for you? Again, you want to have an agency partner with a process they follow and are willing to have a transparent conversation with you.

They openly share how any advertising fees are spent

I started this journey because a lot of agencies aren't transparent with where the money goes when it comes to adoption, outreach, adoption, advertising or sharing, or driving traffic to your profile versus what you're spending. Let me just give you a really clear example. Some well-known agencies out there will charge you five or $10,000 and call it your advertising or your marketing budget. What they're doing is using that as a way to drive traffic to their agency too. Listen, there are some cost advantages to that because you're paying it once a year, and then you're going to get the benefit of the traffic of other couples that come in behind you that go on the list. Just to make sure we're clear, they can click off your profile and go to someone else when it's the month that you're paying for that investment. Just as much as they can click off of their profile and come back to you on the month that they're funding that investment. It's important that you understand that that's how it works and that the actual creative that's being shown in those ads is not John and Sarah adopt; it is an ad encouraging people to come to my wonderful adoption agency, we're going to be a great fit for you as an expectant mother. Once they get there, then the agency is going to decide whether or not they want to share your profile. 

I come across many hopeful adoptive families that are like, I'm paying for a Facebook ad this month, and I'm like, you're actually paying for that agency to advertise themselves on Facebook. So you have to ensure you're clear about what creativity is being shown. Where's the link going from that particular investment so that you know the traffic is coming to you. You should also be getting traffic reports, and you should be able to see how much money they're investing on your behalf. I don't intend any accusations, mistrust, or anything like that toward other adoption agencies. I just think it's important that you know how your money's been spent and that you are keenly aware of what you can be doing to drive that a little faster. 

They encourage you to also pursue self-matching

The fifth thing you should look for in an adoption agency is that they encourage you to pursue multiple matching methods. That means they will help share your adoption profile and want you to share it. In doing so, they're asking you to be an active participant in your adoption journey. They're asking you to go out and help find expectant parents.

They speak with potential expectant parents when you find them to help you screen them

The sixth thing that you should look for in an adoption agency is that when you are self-matching and trying to share your profile yourself, the adoption agency will help you screen those opportunities to make sure you're a good fit for each other. They're going to help you screen out scammers. If you have an adoption agency, you can set up your social media profiles or your website to point back to the agency as the point of contact. You're just sharing it in different ways to try to help get more eyeballs on your profile. You must be looking for an adoption agency partner who wants you to do all you can and is doing all they can to match you.

They do not share other hopeful adoptive parents with those expectant parents without your permission

The last thing to look for in a good adoption agency, especially when you are self-matching, is that when you bring an opportunity to this agency, they're not going to share

other hopeful adoptive parent profiles with expectant mothers without your permission. You need to be able to do the due diligence to ensure that you're the right fit before other expectant parents come in. It's a professional courtesy, and you want to ensure that you're building the right relationship with your adoption agency. They need to tell you before they hand the expectant mother you found another stack of profiles. 

There are seven things to look for when choosing an adoption agency. I trust that you have found value in today’s blog, and if you have, I know you would love the free adoption profile training.  But remember, anything is possible with the right plan and support, and I am here with you every step of the way. I invite you also to join my Facebook Community, where we can connect, and you can ask any questions you may have about matching your adoption faster.

Hi, I Am Amanda

I am an adoption profile expert on a mission to help you create and share your family's story more affordably!