website: http://www.adoptionhelp.org/

Re: Looking in to adoption - can you recommend an agency?
We adopted our two sons (1 and 3 years old) through domestic open adoption. We used the Independent Adoption Center in Pleasant Hill and had great experiences both time. Their website is www.adoptionhelp.org. Adoptive Mom

Re: Seeking a domestic adoption agency
I highly recommend the Independent Adoption Center in Pleasant Hill. We worked with them to adopt both of our sons. They are a non-profit, and they do a lot with what they have - advertising, education, etc. They specialize in open adoption which has been wonderful for us. Feel free to email me if you'd like to discuss them in further detail. Their website is http://www.adoptionhelp.org/. Christine

Re: First-time adoption - which agency? which attorney?
We adopted both of our boys (currently 3 years and 9 months old) through the Independent Adoption Center in Pleasant Hill (www.adoptionhelp.org). We looked at Adoption Connection in SF also but felt the IAC had better communication, more birth parent outreach, and better support.

We initially looked into international adoption as we'd heard all kinds of horror stories about domestic adoption, but we really wanted to be in our child's life from the moment of birth (we were present at both boy's births) and with international adoption we found that most children are at least six months old at the time of placement. We also found that the cost and paperwork for international seemed a lot greater than with domestic adoption.

We have very open adoptions and maintain contact with our sons' birth families, its been a fabulous experience. Our adoption experiences were pretty textbook. We went to the IAC, finished the paperwork and background checks in a couple months, matched with their birthmothers after a couple months, the boys were born, and we finalized their adoptions a few months later (for #1 it was 9 months from start to finish and #2 was 6 months).

We've met a bunch of other adoptive families and it sounds like our experiences were pretty standard and that the Adoption Connection process is similar. I'm happy to talk to you in more detail about our experience (the hard parts, easy parts, costs, etc.), just shoot me an email. Good luck! Christine

My husband and I adopted our now 13-month old baby boy last year through the Independent Adoption Center. They specialize in open adoption, mostly domestic, but are beginning to do some international adoptions. As with most adoptions they facilitate, we were able to bring our baby home with us right from the hospital. Their support and help through the process were invaluable in making our adoption work. Their website www.adoptionhelp.org provides information about open adoption and their services. You can also call them at (800) 877-6736. Sally