Sometimes Even Older Children Need a Forever Home!

A Child’s Hope received a call from a 24-year old birth mother in North Carolina who was not able to parent her three-year-old twins – a boy and a girl. Chris and Devon were bouncing back from a match earlier in the year in which the birth mother decided to parent. But they were beyond excited about this possible placement and worked with us to take the twins into their home within a very short period of time! Since they did not have any children, the three-year-old twins were a great match!

Amir and Alanna are getting ready to celebrate their 4^th birthday, and they are still each other’s best friend!

When A Child’s Hope places an older child, the birth parents are usually in crisis. The placements happen quickly. In a short amount of time the Agency arranges a match meeting, obtains medical records, and helps transition the child to the adoptive parents. And in the case of this family, the transition was a spectacular success!

Thanks to Chris, Devon, Amir and Alana for allowing us to tell the story of their adoptive family.

Do you have a story you’d like to tell? Email us at blog.ach@foryourlife.com. Visit us at www.AChildsHope.com, or call our Birth Mother Hotline at 1-877-890-HOPE (4976) so one of our adoption counselors can answer your questions confidentially.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

Jack and Nora Want Another Sibling!

Nick and Kate met in college at a dance marathon to raise money for children with cancer. Their bond formed immediately, and they ultimately married in 2003 in the church where Kate’s parents and grandparents were married. Kate is an attorney; Nick works for a computer company; and they both love playing and spending time with their biological son, Jack, who is two, and their adopted daughter Nora, who is 12 months old. The family loves to hike with their two dogs, carve pumpkins at their annual Halloween party, swim, play, and ride their bikes together.

What’s missing? Another child to share in the fun! Nick and Kate always wanted to expand their family through adoption. They adopted Nora in Florida and loved doing it so much they can’t wait to do it again! Nick and Kate look forward to sharing their love with a new son or daughter. And Jack is looking forward to teaching Nora and a new brother or sister everything there is to know about how to play on the awesome swing set and tree-house fort in the back yard. Click here to learn more about Nick, Kate, Jack and Nora and their quest to grow their family through adoption.

Thanks to Nick, Kate and their kids for allowing us to tell the story of their adoptive family.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

Birth Mothers Can Receive Free Prenatal Care!

Prenatal care is important but expensive. We know this. But you need to take care of yourself and your unborn child. Did you know that many of our birth mothers automatically qualify for Pregnancy Medicaid?! We will help you apply and walk you through the process.

Women making adoption plans for their baby can also receive payment of insurance co-payments, as well as any medical expenses that result when Medicaid doesn’t apply and you don’t have insurance. Once prenatal care is set up, your adoption counselor can help you schedule and attend your appointments.

If you have any questions about how to get medical care while you are pregnant, call us. 1-877-890-4673 (HOPE).

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

The Birth Plan

Many women making an adoption plan are worried about how hospital staff and physicians will treat them, and whether or not their time in the hospital will be stressful. Our adoption counselors help a birth mother think through her options about her hospital stay and encourage her to put her thoughts into a formal written birth plan that she takes to the hospital. If there is enough time, our adoption counselors actually place a copy of the birth plan in the hospital chart.

Some birth mothers choose to check into the hospital under an assumed name and to be on a floor separate from the floor where the baby is in the nursery. Other birth mothers choose to stay on the floor where the nursery is located and have the baby kept in the nursery. Still other birth mothers choose to have the baby stay in the room for part or all of the time. It’s totally the birth mother’s choice, based on her preferences.

Our adoption counselors work with the hospital social worker ahead of time to introduce the birth mother to the hospital staff in order to reduce inadvertent pressure from “well-meaning” staff. Another way that a birthmother’s wishes can be respected is by placing a letter into her chart asking the hospital staff to respect and not question her choice.

Birth mothers are counseled on how to respond if a hospital staffer says something inappropriate, and our adoption counselors are always available to the birth mother if she needs them.

Pleasant experiences at the hospital are the norm, not the exception. Photos are taken and often the adoptive parents send flowers and gifts. After all, the birth mother has just given the adoptive parents the greatest gift in the world!
Do you have a story you’d like to tell? Email us at blog.ach@foryourlife.com. Visit us at www.AChildsHope.com, or call our Birth Mother Hotline at 1-877-890-HOPE (4976) so one of our adoption counselors can answer your questions confidentially.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

My Adoption Finance Coach Radio Show – Saturday, June 16th

Families waiting to adopt face challenges. Among the biggest challenges are financing the adoption and finding a baby to adopt. Learn about how to meet these challenges in a one hour radio show on Saturday, June 16th – just in time for Father’s Day!

Your Adoption Coach Radio Show
Networking and Advertising Your Adoption
June 16, 2012

Voice America Radio
12:00 pm PST
2:00 pm CST
3:00 pm EST

Your Adoption Coach, is a weekly, one-hour radio show designed to inspire and educate families on adoption. Each week the show features adoptive professionals, celebrities, authors, and feature an adoptive family’s story of adoption. The show dispels the myths of adoption, and provides resources for where to go to get the support and services needed to adopt or support adoption.

Tune in this week for Networking and Advertising Your Adoption with Hal Kaufman of My Adoption Advisor.

The landscape of domestic has changed dramatically with the availability of the internet and social media at our fingertips. My Adoption Advisor is a leading provider of on-demand adoption training courses and consulting services that help families seeking a domestic adoption to target their efforts on the strategies that really make a difference. We explore how you can make a difference in an effective adoption profile and website and how to best network and advertise your profile to birth families. Hal Kaufman is the CEO of My Adoption Advisor who started this company out of his own experience with adoption. Hal has worked with over 200 families to help them find the right match in the birth family and bring their family together forever. We hope you’ll tune into this great show!

Kelly Ellison is a fund raising professional with over twenty-five years of experience raising money for many causes from the arts to the environment. After returning home from China in 2007 with their daughter, she realized how few resources there were for helping adoptive families raise the money they needed to bring their family together.

In 2009, after personally coaching several families, Ms Ellison created a simple five-step system to help families reach their goals. Now making this system available through on-demand webinars, she has created the first comprehensive, interactive web site that assists families with grant writing, special events, and creating an adoption budget.

“Most of my families raise between $5,000 – 10,000 for their adoptions. But more than that they are connected to a community of other families who are experiencing the same things, said Ellison. Through group coaching, forums, and newsletters my families learn from each other, gain knowledge and support. You don’t have to go through this alone.”
Meet the coach, follow this link to watch the video: Meet the Coach

Deployment and Adoption Do Mix!

Since Sean was deployed to Kuwait July 2006 when the opportunity to adopt Anna came along, adoptive mom Maryellen enlisted the help of two good friends when it was time for placement day since Dad couldn’t be there to meet his baby girl for the first time! The placement was videotaped for Sean. Federal express and the military’s JAG were used to get Sean’s signature there in Kuwait on the legal placement documents. Although Anna was 5 months old before Sean got to see her in person, there were plenty of pictures, emails and phone calls before then. It was a great homecoming when he was able to get leave in January 2007 for a visit!

It’s 2012, and Sean, Maryellen and Anna are ready to add another member to their family. Is the birth mother of their next baby reading this blog?

Thanks to Sean, Maryelle and Anna for allowing us to tell the story of their adoptive family.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

They Always Talked About Adoption….

Adoption, Family, Parenting - adopt, adopted, adoption, adoptive parents, birth parents, child, children, choices, families, family, open adoption, parenting, waiting to adopt - June 12, 2012

Mike and Hannah met in college and have been married for 20 years! They always wanted children, whether biologically or through adoption. They were not successful at fertility treatments, but they took that as a sign that God has a child He wants them to adopt and raise as their own. They both work as accountants and enjoy traveling, biking and doing home repairs. Mike and Hannah have the stability and love for a child and hope to match with the right birth parents soon!

Thanks to Mike and Hannah for allowing us to tell their story.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

Financial Help is Available to Birth Mothers!

One of the questions we often hear at A Child’s Hope: “Is financial assistance available for me while I’m pregnant?”

The law in most states allows adoptive families to provide reasonable support for a birth mother to help with expenses related to the pregnancy and delivery. Some birth mothers do not need assistance, while others find themselves in a situation where they cannot take care of themselves or the baby they are carrying without financial help. Adoptive families can provide that help.

Help with expenses can come in many forms: Gift cards can be provided for grocery stores, gas stations and stores that carry other supplies and clothing, such as Wal-mart and Target. Some bills, like utilities, can be paid directly to the provider. Birth mothers can also receive support in the form of medical care. At A Child’s Hope, we help you determine if you qualify for Medicaid and help you find a clinic that is convenient.

Our adoption counselors will advise you about the types of expenses covered and help you set a budget so assistance can be given to you regularly, instead of waiting for a crisis. Our adoption counselors also educate you about resources that are available from other sources – resources that can continue after you deliver – so you can build a more secure future for yourself. And you’ll never need to feel uncomfortable about asking for help, because your adoption counselor will work with A Child’s Hope to communicate your needs to the adoptive parents.

A Child’s Hope is here to help!

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

A Time for Gratitude!

Adoption, Family, Parenting - adopt, adopted, adoption, adoption community, adoptive parents, birth parents, child, children, choices, community, families, family, open adoption, parenting - June 5, 2012

Great things are happening here at A Child’s Hope. Our new website is up and generating positive interest. Our Facebook page is perking along and generating lots of likes. Our blog is gaining followers. And best news of all, one of our waiting families has been contacted by a potential birth mother through their website created by Hal Kaufman at My Adoption Advisor. None of this would be possible without you all. So:

Thank you Hal Kaufman and his team at My Adoption Advisor for creating our waiting parents’ websites, and for advising us on our new marketing plan!

Thank you Joanna Ivey at Our Chosen Child for creating our waiting parents’ profiles, you never disappoint!

Thank you Sarah Shehata and her team at SMC Pros for building our Facebook page and working with us on our advertising campaign!

Thank you Leigh Silverstein of TWTH Consulting for designing our new website and for working with us as we learn to maintain it ourselves!

Thank you to Jenny Halasz of JLH Marketing and her team of optimizers who generated the awesome list of keywords that is getting us found in searches!

Thank you to our adoption counselors for staying in touch with birth mothers and waiting families. The adoption process is hard, but your presence and support makes it easier on everyone!

Thank you to our past placed families for letting us tell your stories on our blog and Facebook page. Your stories provide such encouragement to our waiting families. Our program works, and YOU ARE PROOF!

Thank you to our currently waiting families for your courage and bravery as we step out onto the World “WILD” Web to help you build the family you long for.

A Child’s Hope is a community with the goal of matching children with adoptive families. Each one of you is a vital member of our community, and we thank you for your involvement!

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

Filled With Love!

Tony and Mary Kay had suffered some significant losses before adoption brought Joel into their lives. Their daughter Maria was just 3.5 months old when a drunk driver slammed into Mary Kay’s car, injuring her and killing their daughter who was in a car seat in the back. The accident left a big hole in their hearts, and they grieved immensely. To cope with her loss, Mary Kay started creating jeweled mobiles for gifts. Each mobile was a hand-crafted jeweled star connected to two other stars, symbolizing Maria as the bright start that she was.

Tony and Mary Kay didn’t want their daughter, Nora, to grow up without a sibling. So in 2005, Tony and Mary Kay signed with A Child’s Hope to adopt another child. They were very open about race and gender and special needs, and they had a brief wait before a birth mother chose them to parent her child. In 2005, a newborn boy was placed with them for adoption, and they named him Joel.

Today Joel is 6 years old, active and spirited, and he loves to dance. Although the family will never forget the child they lost so suddenly, giving unconditional love to Joel has helped them heal and grow as a family.

Thanks to Tony, Mary Kay, Nora and Joel for allowing us to tell the story of their adoptive family.

Please remember that this is a public site open to anyone; therefore, anything you post can be seen by anyone.

Pregnancy Hotline: call or text (919) 971-4396

Want to Adopt a Child? Call (919) 839-8800

Parenting

Sometimes Even Older Children Need a Forever Home!

Jack and Nora Want Another Sibling!

Birth Mothers Can Receive Free Prenatal Care!

The Birth Plan

My Adoption Finance Coach Radio Show – Saturday, June 16th

Deployment and Adoption Do Mix!

They Always Talked About Adoption….

Financial Help is Available to Birth Mothers!

A Time for Gratitude!

Filled With Love!

Birthmother Hotline: (877) 890-4673

Envia Un Texto: (919) 218-6270

Text: Pregnant to (919) 971-4396