Adoption Outreach Basics

Are you a prospective adoptive parent that is waiting for an attorney or agency to match you with an expectant family considering adoption for their child? Are you a couple who isn’t totally comfortable self-matching or advertising yourself online, or maybe paid advertising isn’t legal in your state? I always encourage my Purl families who are home study approved to at least do what I call “Adoption Outreach Light”, which basically means that you are spreading the word to friends, families and colleagues that you are hoping to adopt, but maybe not doing any sort of active marketing or paid advertising. I encourage my Purl families to give their contacts a simple way to pass along more information about their family in the event they learn of someone facing an unplanned pregnancy and considering adoption for their child (ie. a copy of a short profile or a link to a website where they can learn more). Adoptions that result from friends and family connections can be great opportunities for prospective adoptive parents and expectant families, and are often much less expensive than adopting through an adoption agency.

As I have discussed in other posts on Adoption Outreach, this generation is less likely to pick up the phone and call an attorney or agency when they are considering adoption, and many would rather search the internet or social media for more information on their options. So, in order to be where this generation is and reduce the amount of time you are waiting to adopt, we encourage at least minimal Adoption Outreach to friends and family, even if you aren’t comfortable with (or it is not legal to do) marketing or paid advertising. Just be sure to check with your adoption attorney to determine what is legal in your state and what parameters to use for your outreach.

If you are considering Adoption Outreach to supplement your adoption journey, we encourage you to read our post “What is Adoption Outreach and Should We Be Utilizing it?”, as well as our post “10 Ways to Boost Your Adoption Outreach.” But you also need to be very careful to protect yourself in your Adoption Outreach. We want people to understand there are people out there known as “adoption scammers” who are taking advantage of vulnerable people who are trying to grow their family, and may or may not be pregnant or considering an adoption plan. Sometimes these people are doing the scamming to get living expenses, but some are “emotional scammers” and just doing this for the attention they get from prospective adoptive families. ⁣So, to protect yourself in your Adoption Outreach, we recommend you: ⁣