Barker Foundation Adoption Agency
(8 votes)
Barker Foundation Adoption Agency
Fax: 1 301-664-9604
Website: http://www.barkerfoundation.org
E-mail: info@barkerfoundation.org
Address:
7979 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814
9 user reviews
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Reviews
Not a Good Experience
I do not want to give too much detail so as to remain anonymous, but I left their International program after getting 0 results after a long time, yet they continued collecting payments. Just a word to the wise, before paying for things, ask them what it is for since they do not give descriptions on the bills and you should refuse to pay if you are not getting anything out of it (i.e., referrals). Also, demand communication and demand to know where you are in the process (queue). These were my mistakes.
Absolutely wonderful adoption experience with Barker!
We adopted our son through Barker's domestic program, and our experience with them has been nothing short of extraordinary. The staff is warm & friendly, and always quick to return emails and phone calls. There were times while we were waiting for a match when I called the director just to talk and vent, and she was always available to lend a sympathetic ear. The pre-adoption classes were extremely informative and the homestudy process was painless. We also attended several Waiting Parents meetings and always found them to be positive and helpful.
The staff proved exceptional when we were matched with our son's birthparents. The birthparent counselor has and still readily makes herself available to them - checking in regularly to see how they're doing, assisting them in finding local resources for various needs, and has been a gentle go-between in assisting us in exchanging letters & photos, and facilitating visits. We've had two post-adoption visits at Barker's Maryland office between our family and our son's birthparents; each time the staff has afforded us a combination of both support and privacy, making each visit a pleasant and comfortable experience for everyone involved.
I am so grateful for everyone at Barker that played a part in making our son a part of our family. I would highly recommend The Barker Foundation to anyone seeking to make an adoption plan.
Barker Foundation the WORST
Barker Foundation the WORST rating. We went through their
homestudy which was a hassle, when it didn't need to be. They made us take classes that were focused on infertility issues, not adoption, when we repeatedly told them that wasn't our issue. The trainers had no basic knowledge of local adoption resources or could help the class with general adoption questions - it was geared to loss and grief and if you didn't have this, they assumed something was wrong with you.
We asked to see their contract ahead of time and they just said "trust us." Anytime someone say's that to you, especially them, RUN! Run fast, and don't look back. After passing the homestudy, in which they weren't prepared with an available social worker (they assumed it would take longer than it did for us to get our paperwork done), they sent us an acceptance letter into the domestic program.
The "contract" was very poorly written with states including they can change their fees for any reason at any time and they can terminate you for any reason at any time. When I called and emailed to talk to them, they refused calls, and did not respond to emails... within 24 hours of receiving this letter we received a second letter (funny, they told us the director, Eliza N. was in meetings all day yet she found time to write this letter) telling us we were no longer welcome in their domestic program - all for asking too many questions and not signing quick enough - one of our emails said we'd just sign and hope for the best and what time would be best to drop it off at the agency that afternoon. We met with her and the exec. director who promised to continue our homestudy if we did private adoption, their suggestion, but a year later when we requested they update our homestudy, they again refused.
At one time, they had a great reputation and had a good domestic program, but they've changed management, and it's ashame how they treat people. They know they did us wrong as they voluntarily offered (which we of course took) some of our money back, just keeping enough to cover our homestudy, without us even asking for a refund.
DO NOT SIGN UP WITH THIS AGENCY
Do not sign with this agency if you are looking for a Caucasian baby.
First of all they told us we would wait approx 1-2 years, then they said 2-3 years.
At the 3 year mark, they said they hadn't had any Caucasian placements at all this year (2011), and yesterday I received a letter saying they expected this "trend" to continue this year.
Every year they have asked us for more money and we've paid around $7,500 and we have NOTHING in return.
They have changed over staff very frequently over the last 4 years in the domestic program, never a good sign.
Also in yesterdays letter they advised me to go with another agency or sign into an online profile web site. What am I paying these guys for? I will paste excerpts from the letter below;
(I'm disgusted with this agency.)
Letter
"I am sorry for the delay in responding but I wanted to get a hold of all our statistics so that I could answer your question more completely. The short answer is that we have not placed any white babies this year nor are we currently working with any birth mothers that are expecting Caucasian babies.
Looking at the statistics for the past 18 months (since january 2010) I see that we have worked with a fair amount of Caucasian birth mothers and really they represent our second largest group of birth mothers, coming only slightly behind the African American birth mothers. However, a very small number of them are having Caucasian babies and most of them are having bi-racial babies. I believe that this trend will continue through the year.
I have spoken to colleagues at other area agencies and they are seeing the same trend. Although we have no evidence (it is hard to keep track of who is not coming to Barker) we all believe the same thing is happening; the Caucasian birth mothers tend to be more educated and have more resources. Given this and their young age, they are turning to the internet more and more to research their adoption options and are taking matters into their own hands as opposed to using agencies.
Taking all this into account, I think that this leaves you with two options to consider; on the one hand you could think about expanding your criteria to include a bi-racial child. However, I know that you were not comfortable with that in the past.
Secondly, you could continue to be in Barker's comprehensive program but begin to do some outreach on your own in addition. You could either sign up with an out-of-area adoption agency that works in a state/area where there are more Caucasian children (such as Utah). Some of our families have done this but there is a considerable cost involved. Another, more affordable way to network beyond Barker's pool is to use a website such as Parent Profiles where you create a profile for yourself that is on the internet. That way, you would have added visibility among birth mothers"
Barker is a terrific agency
We enjoyed a positive adoption experience with the Barker Foundation. Always very professional, easily reachable by phone or email, their classes and support group meetings are highly informative. They were very forthcoming in explaining the whole process and their fee schedule, no surprises. We will certainly return to Barker should we wish to expand our family again.
We love Barker
We would highly recommend Barker to anyone interested in adopting. We used their Korea program to adopt our wonderful daughter. They were extremely professional. Phone calls and emails were always returned within one day. Every step of the way, they gave us accurate and honest information. For us, the process was pretty easy. We could not have been happier.
The Barker Foundation is wonderful!
I'm currently waiting to adopt from China. Barker has been wonderful from the beginning. They were very supportive and responsive throughout my paperchase, and as soon as we completed the necessary paperwork, assigned us to a social worker who would also work at the same quick pace we had established. They're very full service, handling all notorizations and authentications.
You do have to take a pre-adoption workshop, but that's probably going to be standard under Hague rules anyway. Two days, 10 hours, about 6 couples. The class did address loss and grief, but not just from the parents perspective, but for the birthmother and child as well. It also went over multi-cultural/racial issues, and started us thinking about the more difficult questions that our child will ask someday.
During this lengthy wait time, the Barker Foundation has been very supportive. They have regular meetings for Waiting Parents, with topics of re-adoption and medical issues and lifebooks; and classes on basic baby care. There is a family-initiated China group that meets regularly, for both waiting families and those completed with their adoption. They also have a lot of programming for the adopted children, which is one of the main reasons we chose Barker, to have that resource for our future daughter. They also have an annual conference which is chock full of information.
Their website is a bit out of date, and their paperwork is old and over-copied.
I've also been told that the domestic program has become more selective of their potential adoptive parents lately, since international adoption has become so full of obstacles. Rather than flood the domestic program and dilute the chances of a successful adoption for those already registered, and further increase the wait time for a match, they are limiting the number of applicants.
The Barker Foundation is a Great Agency
My husband and I highly recommend this agency. We worked with this agency in 2006 through Lutheran Family Services of the Carolinas to adopt a child through their Korea program. We were always treated with the utmost respect and they were honest and helpful throughout the entire process. We brought home our daughter through their Korea Program in August of 2006 without any trials or tribulations. They were very forth coming regarding fees, time frames and the process. We were always able to communicate our questions through the Korean Adoption Dept and heard back right away. They have also been there to answer questions after our daughter's placement and I know that if we needed them for something they would be happy to help. I would highly recommend this agency to anyone who is interested in adopting.