Why a Successful Adoption Requires the Best Research

I was sorry to read that Jamie Court and his wife had such a heartbreaking and unsuccessful story of domestic adoption (“Beware the Baby Profiteers,” Aug. 20). I too longed for motherhood, and I was referred to a prominent adoption attorney in Century City with a stellar reputation. He was not the least bit intimidating and explained everything about the adoption process from soup to nuts.

Like Jamie Court, I had no preference of gender or race. Soon I received a call from a birth mother. My attorney felt strongly that she was committed to the adoption. My experience was “by the book,” trouble-free and went exactly as my attorney explained. I now have a beautiful 6-year-old daughter who just lost her first tooth and is the love of my and my family’s life.

If potential adoptive families do their research and go through the proper channels, the chances of having a bad experience will be greatly reduced. I don’t want a few bad stories to sour people on pursuing domestic adoptions.

Jayne Bieber

Los Angeles

My initial feelings of sympathy for the author and his wife quickly diminished as I reread his description of their unsuccessful adoption. My husband and I are proud parents today through domestic adoption. When we embarked on this process, we vowed not to get involved with facilitators who charged outlandish fees or birth mothers who insisted on financial support. As with any major, life-altering decision, creating a family through adoption requires caution, patience and perhaps a little faith. Perceptions, intuition and “red flags” can’t be ignored in one’s eagerness to bring home a baby.

If more people would take a stand and refuse to accept the extortionist tactics of some facilitators and birth parents, these players would lose their incentive. Perhaps, then, adoption could go back to being less of a business and more about placing a child in a good, loving home.

Ann Durham

Los Angeles

It is unfortunate that the Court family had to experience a failed adoption arranged by a facilitator. The Academy of California Adoption Lawyers is composed of licensed attorneys whose practices focus on family formation law, including adoption. A family’s first stop should be with an experienced attorney.

Diane M. Goodman

President

Academy of California

Adoption Lawyers

Encino