Admittedly I have never chosen an adoption agency. When my son was relinquished, I was driven to the agency and the arrangements were made during one visit which lasted several hours. In retrospect, I am grateful that the agency is one that now offers post-adoption support.

When my son decided that he wanted contact with me, all that he needed to do was tell the agency to search for me and fork over $500 - nine months later, they found me. The non-indentifying information was another charge.

My knowledge of adoption agencies is therefore limited to the information I have received from others, and my perusing the Internet. I have learned a great deal. Most of the birth moms from my era are very mistrustful of adoption agencies, and, I would have to say that there reasons sound very valid. Birth moms in today's world seem to have mixed emotions about the agencies that they used.

For starters, I would not advise a woman to choose an agency until she had explored all other options thoroughly. Unless a pregnant woman is reasonably certain that she wants to place her baby for adoption, I would not advise her to choose an agency. I would not advise her to expect an agency to help her make her decision as to the various options.

While it may seem fairly obvious, I think pregnant women considering adoption need to never lose sight of the fact that adoption agencies are generally lucrative businesses. Even non-profit agencies generate a great deal of money. They make money by placing babies and children for adoption.

Adoption agencies sometimes offer to help a pregnant woman make her decision. However, it is not in their best interest to provide information about parenting for a young women. Some young women have told me that while agencies iniatially told them that they would help them explore options to help them parents, they did not follow through.

Think of it this way, if you were choosing between a Ford and a Honda, would you expect the Ford dealer to give you accurate and impartial information about the Honda? Remember, this is how he feeds his family.

Here are some factors that I would consider choosing an agency:

1. Unless there is some overwhelming reason why you feel unable to sustain an open adoption, look for an agency that does mainly open adoptions. There is a great deal of evidence that suggests that open adoptions are much better for children. Choose an agency that has successfully facilitated many open adoptions and one that believes open adoptions are very beneficial. If an agency facilitates open adoptions, they may be able to help direct the parties to insure a successful open adoption.

To Be Continued......................................