If you are pregnant and considering adoption for your baby, the best adoption agencies for birth mothers will help guide you throughout the process. Keep in mind, the agency you choose will impact the overall experience of your adoption, so you will want to find the best adoption agency possible.

But what should you look for? How do you find top-rated adoption agencies?

If you are asking yourself these questions, you’ve come the right place. We have written this guide to help prospective birth mothers determine what they should be looking for when researching adoption agencies.

Although most agencies offer similar services, not all will offer the exact same. The level of support and overall care they offer prospective birth mothers will vary as well. Because this is such an important, life-changing experience, you want to make sure you are working with the best national adoption agencies possible.

If you’d like help connecting with an agency now, contact us today.

What to Look for in the Best Adoption Agencies for Birth Mothers

As we previously mentioned, the agency you choose will be involved throughout your entire adoption process. With that said, you are still in control of the decisions during your adoption. Making sure all of your needs are being met, in a respectful and caring matter, should be the agency’s top priority.

Determining the services you want and need goes a long way toward your research on the best adoption agency for your specific situation. We say your specific situation, because we understand what every prospective birth mother considers the “best” will be different.

Below, you will find common services prospective birth mothers should look for when searching for the best domestic adoption agencies.

24/7 Counseling and Support Services

Considering adoption for an unplanned pregnancy can be a very emotional and challenging experience, but it’s an experience you don’t have to go through alone. The best adoption agencies for birth mothers will offer counseling services during your pregnancy and throughout the adoption process.

The goal of counseling and support services is to help pregnant women explore their options, learn more about adoption, and to have a reliable, unbiased professional by their side.

Some agencies claim to offer 24/7 support services but direct you to a voicemail or automated response “after hours.” But, life’s biggest problems rarely happen during work hours. Given the emotional matters that may arise throughout your pregnancy, you will want to work with an agency where counseling services are truly available 24/7.

The best adoption agencies for birth mothers will always have 24/7 support at the top of their adoption service list.

You can feel confident because you always have the support of adoption professionals who completely understand what you may be going through.

Financial Assistance

Before we create any misconceptions, we need to point out that prospective birth mothers do not get paid for placing their baby for adoption. It is illegal to sell a child, and there can be very serious punishment for attempting to do so.

With that said, financial assistance is available for prospective birth mothers.

An unplanned pregnancy can be a lot to handle, and by no means should you have to worry about the financial impact of medical and hospital bills during your pregnancy. The best adoption agencies for birth mothers will ensure you are not burdened by these bills or costs. They will help you obtain financial assistance to cover your pregnancy-related living expenses.

Financial assistance is state-mandated and has to be approved by the court system. But, you don’t need to worry about that. Your adoption professional will work with attorneys to make sure you are receiving the assistance you need.

This assistance is not just limited to medical bills. In some cases, it can include living expenses such as everyday necessities, housing assistance and even funding to help with electric or water bills and more. All funding received will have to be approved and well documented by your adoption specialist.

This assistance will vary upon your specific situation, but top-rated adoption agencies should do everything in their power to ensure you are receiving all eligible benefits.

Adoption and Hospital Planning Services

Although it may sound self-explanatory, adoption and hospital planning are crucial services for good adoption agencies to provide.  Throughout the planning process, you and your adoption specialists will discuss how you envision your adoption going.

You and your specialist will work through every detail of the process, such as:

• What kind of family you want to raise your baby
• How much contact you want with the family before the adoption
• If you wish to pursue an open or closed adoption
• The hospital you’d like to give birth
• Who you want in the delivery room with you
• How much time you would like with your baby after delivery
• Much more

No matter how minor or large the detail may be, putting a plan in place helps limit any confusion or stress throughout your adoption process. It also lets you focus on having a happy and healthy pregnancy and delivery when the time comes to deliver your baby. Adoption planning ensures your adoption goes as smoothly as possible.

The best national adoption agencies will make sure your needs are being met and are a top priority during the adoption and hospital planning portion of your adoption process.

Adoptive Family Screening and Matching Services

Throughout this article, we have mentioned you being in control of the decisions made during your pregnancy and adoption. This includes the final say in one of the most important decisions you will make during your adoption: choosing the family you decide to place your baby with.

Top-rated adoption agencies will help make this process as easy as possible.

Your adoption professional will provide you with adoptive family profiles that have been screened to match your goals for a desired family as closely as possible. Through, photos, videos, letters and more, family profiles will give you a feel for potential adoptive candidates as you work toward making a decision.

Your adoption specialist will organize meetings between you and adoptive family candidates you have chosen, with hopes of you getting a better sense of their personalities and adoption goals. In some situations, you may even have face-to-face meetings to get to know them better. Ultimately, the decision on who you place your baby with will depend upon which family you feel the greatest connection with.

The ability to provide you with adoptive family profiles, and facilitate meetings, is a service only the best adoption agencies will offer prospective birth mothers. Working with a national adoption agency opens up an index of adoptive families all throughout the United States, which increases your chances of finding the best family for your baby.

Having professional assistance for finding adoption opportunities takes a lot of the stress out of what is already such an emotional and impactful decision.  

Reviews, Testimonials and References

Another thing to consider when searching for the best adoption agency is how they treat their clients. When you speak with adoption professionals, bet sure to ask for testimonials and references from birth parents who have used their services in the past. These reviews and testimonials provide firsthand examples of the level of service other birth mothers received while using the agency.

Reading reviews can provide you with insight of actual experiences, pros and cons, and patterns in strengths and weaknesses of an adoption agency. Although no agency is perfect, the top adoption agencies will generally have a much higher positive rating via their reviews.

Post-Placement Counseling Services

Placing a baby for adoption is a brave, life-changing decision, but it is also an emotional and difficult one as well. The best domestic adoption agencies offer post-placement counseling services for birth mothers who may need support and professional counseling to fully heal.

Realizing the incredible opportunities you have given your child by choosing adoption can sometimes take time. Counseling services are here to listen to any feelings of guilt or temporary regret you may be having post-placement. These services are vital to the healing process, which will vary for every birth mother.

Your Next Steps Toward Finding an Agency

These are just a few of the services top-rated adoption agencies will provide prospective birth mothers. Because the agency you choose will impact the overall experience of your adoption, we cannot emphasize enough the importance of finding the best adoption agency for your needs.

Below, you will find a few of the best domestic adoption agencies:

• American Adoptions – American Adoptions is a national, full‐service, licensed adoption agency. They work with adoptive families and prospective birth parents across the United States. With an emphasis on 24/7 birth parent support, financial assistance  and so much more, American Adoptions is a great choice for prospective birth mothers. To get more information about the benefits of working with American Adoption, please call 1-800-ADOPTION at any time.
• Gladney Center for Adoption – As a national adoption agency, Gladney Center for Adoption provides the necessary services birth mothers need for a successful adoption. Prospective birth parents can reach out to an adoption specialist at any time to learn more about their options by contacting 817-922-6000.
• Bethany Christian Services – Bethany Christian Services is a global nonprofit organization with services including adoption, foster care, and pregnancy counseling. They provide counseling and adoption planning services to help ensure birth mothers are making the best decision for their situation.

Although it can be a challenge, putting in the effort to find the right agency is absolutely worth it. If you have any questions, you can always contact an adoption professional to get more information.