Adoption Agency Ratings

This site will not allow me to assign zero or negative stars. As a mother who relinquished through Bethany, I can say it no better than an article published recently in The Nation. (Google it) The coercive tactics described in the article echo my experience with Bethany in a way that is uncanny ... and quite sad upon reflection. Worst of all, I found out later that my child was physically and emotionally abused in his adoptive home.

We chose Bethany Christian Services because we are committed Christians, and they claimed to be. We wanted to be able to adopt through the foster system to be able to apply on children nation wide, not just in our State, because we can't afford the cost of adopting privately. Bethany did our Home Study and helped us get set up and then we did all the online research and application on children, until we found a match in another State.

The problems we have are with our Case Worker from Bethany. She has her own agenda and has made it clear that she does not work for us. Her Director made it clear that she has the same attitude. They sure don't tell you that up front when you come to them! Our Bethany Case Worker made this clear AFTER the kids were placed in our home. BEWARE that Bethany or any other agency sees themselves this way - ask about it up front. Don't assume they want a quick adoption process if they are getting paid their fees from the State.

Bethany sets and negotiates for their own fees when you finally find the child or children you want, and if the children's State can't pay the amount they want (which is high) Bethany will drop the adoption request on the children. We nearly had that situation and it was horrible to go through. Our children came from a very poor rural community, and their Country didn't have the funds Bethany required. Their County had to go to the State for the additional funds and find ways to get the money together. They did this because the children were a large sibling group with undesirable problems and medical conditions.

It is a terrible thing to realize that Bethany does not care what YOU want, they have their own agenda in the adoption process. Bethany gets paid each month to monitor the children and family until the adoption process becomes legalized. We have found that our Case Worker at Bethany is stalling the adoption process and will not give reasons. We must assume it is because of collecting the maximum amount of monthly fees. One should be allowed to adopt at 6 months at the latest, but she is continuing the drag it out. She states she is very happy with how the kids are doing with us, yet she will not provide the attorney with the needed paperwork to finalize the adoption.

We want to tell you all to BEWARE of being used by Bethany Christian Services to collect fees and do what they want, versus see to a prompt adoption process when it concerns the foster system.

I adopted a Russian special needs toddler from an adoptive family that was unable to keep him due to his needs. Bethany placed the child in my care as a foster placement. Soon I decided I would like to adopt him, but this information was never given to the adoptive family. They were continually told that they had leads, but no family had yet said they were interested. Unwilling to leave the baby in foster care indefinitely, and not knowing about my interest, they asked Bethany to return the child to their home until a suitable family could be found. Bethany then threatened (and did) to turn them into social services and take away their biological daughter. The family sought legal advise and, through their attorney, were able to have the baby returned to them. Social services found absolutely nothing wrong and questioned the complaint. I was able to talk with the parents when bringing the child back to them. Apparently Bethany had not only been lying to them about prospective families, but about results of medical tests, etc. while the child was in my care. In the end we became good friends and I successfully adopted the baby privately. While our story had a happy ending, Bethany, at least in Nashville, can not be trusted to uphold ethical adoption practices. I am thankful that my son's first family had the spirit to put his needs first and fight for him. It seems as though the money Bethany was receiving for having a special needs child in their care was more important than finding him a home. Adoptive parents and birthmothers, please beware.

In 2002, I went through a divorce. After filing for the divorce, I found out my soon to be ex-wife was pregnant. In the divorce I was granted full custody of our 6 month old daughter. In October of 2002 I was contacted by a S/W at Bethany named Joy Valentine. She let me know that my ex was looking into an adoption, and as the legal father they would need my consent. I told them in person, on the phone, and in writing, NO! I allerted them to the fact that I had custody of the other child, and that I would be taking custody of this baby, and caring for him myself. I did say that if a DNA test disproved me to be the father that I would consider consenting at that point. There was a doubt to paternity. Infidelity was the reason for my filing for a divorce. However, I had cared for our daughter, and had every capability of being a father to my son. In January of 2003 my son was born. However I was never permitted to be in any part of his life.
Bethany simply figured that they would keep my name off of the birth certificate, place my son anyway, and deal with me post-placement. THEY WENT AHEAD AND PLACED MY SON FOR ADOPTION WITHOUT MY CONSENT! Ironically, the couple works in highly lucritive positions at the hospital where he was born and the birth certificate was filed fraudulently!
We later were able to find and prve a very elaborate scheme, that included two very unscrupulous wanna-be parents woman definitely has a bit of obsessive/compulsive disorder), a corrupt judge, and one horrible adoption agency! We were able to find out that my ex had been targeted and bullied into this placement. She was very confused, angry, and didn't fully understand what she was doing. These people, however, knew exactly what they were doing to her, my son, and in the end, even my daughter! Even though the law requires it here in Michigan, Bethany provided no post-placement counseling, the legal counseling, nothing. Everyone at Bethany was to concerned with the fact that they had two very wealthy people that obsessively wanted a baby, and were determined to do whatever that took and to anyone they had to. When everything went bad, they're official position (Bill Gallagher - FOX2 News), was that now that an adoption could not be completed, they were washing their hands of the whole thing, and were then calling it a "private" adoption. Mysteriously, the three S/W that were involved were very quickly transferred to other offices.

My son was put through 5 years of hell! These people tried to give him one name at birth, but that adoption aplication was found fraudulent by the state due to a clash of the aplication with my ex's name and our marraige certificate. When I contacted the state, not only did they immediately recognize my paternity due to this, but they allowed me to give him his official and legal name. When I filed in court for custody, I was given the run around for nearly a year. At one point I was ordered to pay THEM child support, and the order was for the name they had given him! I was ordered to pay support for a child that did not legally exist! Yet for three years (I saw my son three times in his first two years), he spent 3 1/2 days with his birth family and 3 1/2 days with these people. Out of animosity, they refused to call him by anything other than the name they tried to give him, even though he hated it, and the other three and a half days by his legal name. These people emotionally, and mentally abused my son. They tried to brainwash him that we were all no good. (other words were used!) A judge, upon meeting with him, had even determined he had been coached even for that meeting!
One of the things that just made me sick was that the woman had friends at the hospital where she worked, overload her on hormones so that her breasts could lactate. This 57 year old woman was breast feeding MY son! Where were my choices as his father? How could any of these people just sit back, do this, collect money, and not have any ramifications whatsoever!
These people and Bethany have committed fraud, perjury, and, most of all, kidnapping, and they are all going to get away with it. What a load of crap! I have NO sympathy for this couple. From day one they knew My daughter and I existed. Yet, they were so obsessed with having our child they were willing to do whatever it took to anyone they had to! They had money and were willing to fight. I believe they have spent close to $5 million trying to keep my son. What they could have done for children that needed it with that money makes me sick. My son had a family and didn't need these people! My feelings about the entire adoption system in this country are completely negative. What I have read about and seen, is disgusting. Some of you should really question who you are doing this for! Yourself? or a child that NEEDS a home? If it is for your own selfish desires and fullfilling your own needs than hang it up!

It took 5 years of court battles to bring my son home and have all of my children united and together. We are all very happy. This is where my son belongs. "Adoption was created so that children without homes could be provided with one. NOT, so that barren couples could be provided babys at anyones expense!" Jennifer Granholm

Bethany is just BAD! BAD! BAD! They have anhialated families left and right, and all in the name of the all mighty dollar. They couldn't care less who they trample on, even the children.

I went to Bethany in the 90's not knowing what i wanted to do yet...the counselor was so one sided. the organization was so mean and cruel.she saw the turmoil i was in and did not offer anything but adoption for my child...i found out later that they have offered some first moms shepherding homes for their new borns while the mom made a decision and dealt with everything after the birth...i have no idea why that was not offered to me...had i been offered a place for my child for a few weeks, i would have grabbed that!!! i also picked a profile of a family that had agreed to updates and pictures all thru my childs life and to keep the name i gave///they did none of that!!! i am so furious...and I chose life for my child...i gave a family the most precious gift and they and Bethany just laughed...Jesus is definitely not in that organization...but "Vengeance is mine , saith the Lord." I just have to pray my child knows the truth one day and pray for God to hold him close always...

This agency is extreemly unethical and unsupportive, soley in if for the money.. not in it for the kids. Beware all, you can NOT trust these people!

We live in a community with a Bethany office and no other agencies. We drove 2 hours away to use another agency. Bethany's office was very disorganized. When I called for information, they enrolled me in a class on foster parenting without my knowledge. When I did not attend, they were very angry with me. I was not interested in becoming a foster parent. I also don't care for how vague all their information is about cost. If I am going to be ask to spend that amount of money for an adoption, I want to know why costs that much. I don't mind paying for real costs but I do mind paying for other programs. We ended up adopting from S.Korea and paying much more than Bethany charges but our agency could account for everything.

My name is Amanda and I am an Adult Adoptee who was adopted through Bethany Services in a private, domestic infant adoption in 1985. I had recent dealings with them in 2007-2009 and my First Mother has been contacting them off and on throughout the first 24 years of my life 1985 through present.

I personally prefer to refer to this agency as "Bethany Services" because there is honestly nothing "Christian" about how they handled my adoption. I have awesome adoptive parents and had a wonderful childhood. The secrecy Bethany placed on my adoption kept us oblivious to unethical misdeeds behind the scene and a very hurting First Mom that we had no idea was marginalized and mistreated and out there hurting and longing for me. I am a reunited adoptee who has heard my adoption story from my Adoptive Parents and First Mother in order to be able to put the entire truthful circumstances together. I also have my adoption records.

My First Mother approached Bethany Services as a young, pregnant teenager in 1985 to consider her options. Instead of offering her a balanced view, adoption was pushed. They matched her with a few couple profiles and handed her computer printouts--who would she pick *if* she was considering adoption? She remembers selecting a couple with a little boy--*if* she was going to choose adoption, that's who she would pick, she told them.

She went into labor and as active labor began, a white curtain was drawn in front of her face so that she could not see what was going on while she was pushing nor see me be born. As I began to crown, the asked her to count to ten and she went unconscious--the nurse had put something in either her IV or her epidural. Meanwhile, I was pulled out of her with forceps. They did this to keep her from bonding with me. She did not request this and they did not tell her this was going to happen, they just did it. When she awoke, she remembers that she was in a different room--somewhere else in the hospital, suddenly being treated like she was there for nothing more than a cold. She recalls that it was like an "act of Congress" to get to hold me. She was disturbed by this, not only for obvious reasons but because she had never promised to anyone that she was choosing adoption. She felt like the decision had been made for her. When it was finally time for her to leave the hospital, she was having trouble leaving without me. Her sister and her nurse stepped outside of her hospital room to give her a moment to think at which point the Bethany adoption worker marched in. She badgered my First Mom, fired questions at her that she couldn't answer, and made her feel completely unworthy to parent her own child. It was then that she signed me into foster care on papers where the worker had scribbled that I was destined for adoption. My First Mother felt like she had no other choice. She would need to make up her mind to officially surrender me within one month or they would start charging her $28 per week for my care in foster. A month later she entered a judge's chamber with the same adoption worker there and agreed to relinquish me.

My First Mom and her sister returned to my First Mom's home state (she had been sent away when she got pregnant) to prosecute the man who had fathered me (I was conceived from forced relations). The prosecutors contacted Bethany to contact my adoptive parents to see if they would help the investigation by providing a sample of my blood to which my adoptive parents agreed. Bethany told my adoptive parents that the sample was no longer necessary and then went and told the state prosecutor that my adoptive parents had refused to provide the sample because I was too young to be involved in such an investigation. Due to the lack of DNA evidence, my First Mother was forced to take the stand to testify against her attacker. Humiliated, she refused to speak. This man was unable to be fully punished for his actions due to lack of compelling evidence and testimony as to the extent of his actions against her. He was therefore sentenced to only 30 months in prison. Living in a small town, she often bumped into him throughout the years once he was released. I do not know why Bethany did not cooperate to bring my First Mother justice; I will not even begin to speculate. In case you're wondering, yes, this man actually did father me. I am in contact with his sister, my paternal aunt, and the family resemblance is absolutely striking and undeniable.

During the counseling process with Bethany, my First Mother was promised that if I was surrendered for adoption, I would always know who she was and that I would have all of her identifying information (never happened). She was promised that at the age of 16 I would be given her current contact information (never happened). She was told I would always have access to her if I wanted to but that she must agree not to contact me. I was never told or sent a darn thing. By the time I finally got Bethany to tell me how to find her and contact her at the age of 24, she had spent the 8 (almost 9) years since my 16th birthday wondering if I was even still alive or if perhaps I wanted nothing to do with her. Each time she contacted the agency over the years to update her information, they perpetuated the same untruthful nonsense.

I lived in foster care under a false alias. Original Birth Certificates of adoptees are not sealed until an adoption is finalized. Despite my full legal entitlement to my original name given by my First Mom on my Birth Certificate, AND against my First Mother's wishes for NO secrecy, Bethany attempted to make sure that no one never know what my real, original name was. My foster parents weren't allowed to know my real name nor my adoptive parents. I even have medical records now in my posession under this fake name. When my adoption was finalized the following year after my birth, my Original Birth Certificate was sealed and an amended certificate with a third name--the name I have now, my adoptive name, was issued. This certificate lists my adoptive parents as giving "live birth." Now Bethany does not seal OBCs, the state does. That being said, they had no right to withhold my real name from me and my adoptive parents while I was still entitled to it prior to my adoption. What inhumane cruelty--I am a human being, not a commercial product, not a Tabula Rassa to be molded.

My adoption records list that my adoptive parents were specifically chosen because of the distance of their location from my First Family which would serve the best interest of secrecy in the adoption (again, against my First Mother's wishes and what she was promised). My adoption was handled between three different Bethany agencies across three seperate States. My adoptive parents were told that my First Mother chose adoption because she wanted to "move on with her life." I was NOT given to the couple with the little boy whom my First Mother had been made to believe she had chosen when she was considering adoption vs. parenting.

I began contacting Bethany in 2007 to ask about searching for my First Mom. I was very timid because I was afraid of being judged by them for wanting to reunite. I went back and forth with one post-adoption social worker a few times between 2007-2009. They claimed my First Mom's contact information on file was no longer any good and that the phone number was "probably" bad. They claimed that the prevailing practice at the time of my adoption was not to exchange names and not provide identifying information which they must hold to when speaking with me about my First Mom. All-the-while my First Mother was not only promised I would be able to contact her but she had also made it rediculously clear that I was to know who she was if I asked about her. I asked the worker I had been speaking to if I could have any non-ID information and she never replied to me or wrote me another email again. Finally in 2009 when my adoptive parents began calling Bethany as well as an adoption lawyer for me to help me get information, we were sent a very dry email from a different Bethany worker with a list of outrageously priced services as well as information on going through the state to contact my First Mom. At this point I was so annoyed with Bethany that I opted to go through the state and after a rediculous 7-month ordeal with my birth/adoption state, we reunited.

24 almost 25 years of lies and secrecy with no concern as to the gravity of the impact it would have on both of my families.

Donna Nicholson was the name of the agent from Bethany visited my brother telling him hey guess what your twins were born in November (today's date is 1/13/08) and they have a 50/50 chance of making it, they having been fighting for their lives everyday, oh and by the way sign here because the mom wants to give them up for adoption. First of all-Donna-that is no way you tell someone that their kids were born, second my brother had registered himself as the father with the state just in case the mother did not put him on the birth certificate, and Donna knows she can not do anything without my brother's permission regardless of the mother. Donna visited my brother at 11:15 and told him he needed to have the matter resolved by 12 or the kids would be gone forever. When my brother called me crying and confused I called the agency myself asking for Donna Nicholson and the lady on the phone told me she had never heard of anyone by that name, after explaining what had occured and could someone just let me know what we need to do we will do anything for the twins, etc. the lady got mad and said look I am Donna and I don't have to tell you anything, i said I wasn't looking for any trouble, contacted our attorney and he was furious that the lady had lied about who she was and saying my brother had a 45 minute time limit trying to scare him into signing papers. There was nothing Christian about the treatment Donna gave my brother, and myself, and I only pray for any damage they may be causing the mother, if any. I also called their 1-800number to ask for a supervisor for that office and the lady on that line wouldn't give me any information, basically just covering for Donna, I don't understand these people, they need to change their name

We used Bethany to complete a domestic adoption of an infant, special needs. It should have taken 2 mos to complete the paperwork, it took 18 mos. They lied to us about what was refundable and not, and did not complete paperwork correctly. We ended up with a $1.5 million dollar medical bill for the child while he was still technically a foster child, and had to do a bankruptcy. We should never have been responsible for that medical bill, a lot of it was from before we even met him! We tried to complete a second adoption and they placed 2 children in our home who were RAD and they did not disclose the reports of sexual abuse and rape from previous foster homes. They changed records (we saw several copies of files which were all different). The head honcho in MI is a slimy used-car salesmean. These people are in it for money and not for the children. I would tell anyone to run far and fast from this agency!!! There is no accountability from satellite offices and there is no oversight anywhere.

We connected with Bethany after visiting the orphanages they support in Europe in the 1990s. Everyone of the locals that worked with the orphanage sang the praises of Bethany. After being a medical professional for almost twenty years I appreciated the thoroughness of Bethany's information gathering, recommnedations, and training process. We were open to all kinds of adoption options. Not one person we met out of two branch offices, or spoke with on the phone at their MICHIGAN headquarters (note to moderator address not correct for corporate office) MADE a decision for us, they encouraged us to pray and prayed with us. We chose to adopt an international SN child. We are now adopting our second through them. Their pricing is quite disclosed on their website and is comparable to others that post. We chose an organization that has been around for many years and appreciate the fact that they support children no matter where they are, they are not trying to find children for families, but rather families for children. When I brought up the discussion of contacting the first mother more than one person encouraged us to do so!
We were foster-to-adopt parents directly with our state for two years and we had many issues with communication, follow through and unrealistic expectations. We appreciated Bethany's caring, professionalism and communication after our dealings with the government! We feel our SW is an integral part of our success as a family and have enjoyed her support and help for almost two years now!
We are now pursing a second SN adoption through them, a child we connected with and they are gracious and insightful to help us bring them home even though they were not on their COP list!

I was sad to see such negative comments for Bethany. We had a wonderful experience with the S. CA office. Everyone was extremely kind and very professional, and our social worker Eleanor was the best! We only used their home study and post placement services since the country we adopted from was not available through Bethany. Our reports were all done in a very timely manner and she helped us finalize our adoption very quickly through the local courts.

I think Bethany is one of the best comprehensive agencies around- there is a flat fee for all adoptive parents in most offices, our office used a sliding scale based on income. So I liked that there weren't different fees for adoptions based on race/ethnicity.

And, they provide the most counseling, of other agencies, in my opinion. And, their training classes for adoptive parents are very good. Some of the smaller agencies we looked at just don't have the capacity to provide much of the above.

We were pleased with how comprehensive their programs are, and how they continue to offer support to the adoptive family after the adoption is over.

We were very happy with our experience with Bethany Christian Services. In the realm of international adoption, we found them to be ethical, organized, and efficient.
In the country from which we adopted, they have a wonderful reputation with the US Embassy and the government itself.
I would recommend this agency to anyone, especially after hearing horror stories about some other agencies that specialize in IA.

Great social worker and everybody was very helpful. They are a good organization and I recommend to other families. They did what they said they would, and we have a beautiful boy as a result. Good job done!

It was very clear with the medical professionals in my daughter's case that her birth mother was placing her for adoption too. Our social worker would have never told her to lie about it.

We adopted our son through the Madison Heights office 12/07 and were called again by our social worker on 10/08 asking us if we'd consider adopting another baby. Our son's birthmother was pregnant again and wanted us to have this baby too. We brought our daughter home 12/08, and both adoptions were very positive experiences.

Bethany Christian Services walked us through each step of the process and did everything they could to help us. They rushed our paperwork both times so that we could bring the babies home right away. we've developed good relationships with both our social worker and the birthmother's social worker.

We started off with a semi-open adoption. The birthmother chose us and then we met. Our son had already been born when we found out about him, so we weren't involved in the pregnancy or anything. We agreed to send pictures and letters quarterly, and we did. I also made the birthmother a scrapbook and am sending her new pages regularly. It was all one sided--we didn't hear back from her at all, which was hard, but it was completely up to her, so we were okay with it.

This time, we were able to be involved for the final two months of the pregnancy. My husband and I were at the ultrasound appt. when we found it was a girl. I was also able to drive up to her town and take her to all her doctor's appointments. We developed a great relationship during this time, and our adoption has now moved to more of an open adoption.

We've exchanged phone numbers, and I've been to her house and met a lot of her family. Before we did this, Bethany forwarded our letters to her and kept in contact with her for us.

Bethany has bent over backwards to help us adopt, and our birthmother's social worker was incredible. She keeps a bulletin board off her clients and prays for them regularly. We also have several friends who have adopted through them too and kept going back for their next adoption. I cannot recommend Bethany highly enough!

I am thankful that the SW at Bethany is supporting the BM on this. Why in the world wouldn't you send the pics/updates? It sounds as if you agreed to this, obviously, but now don't want to make that small effort. Your child, someday, will know that you did not keep your word.

We adopted from China when the time frames just started to get out of control. We applied in January 2005 and it took 2 months of repeated attempts on my part to make sure we were going to get approval of our application. We had to attend an informational meeting before beginning homestudy, but these meetings are only held 2 times per year!! Good thing I pushed to get our application approved in April or we would have had to wait until October to even think about what country to adopt from. Our homestudy took forever, as our SW was slow as molasses. We called several times to find out if she was done yet. This held up out 171H form and delayed our dossier going to China by almost 2 months. When our dossier was finally sent in August, we didn't get a log-in-date until October 2005. A huge difference considering folks with an August LID got their referrals in December 2006 and we got ours in April 2007! The wait for a referral was only 6-8 months when our dossier was sent and then it just started to lengthen, through no fault of Bethany's - but not once did our SW call or email us about the change. If we had not been online and informing ourselves, we would have called our SW 6-8 months after LID and asked when we would be getting our referral. As the wait grew to 18 months, we were never called to see how we were doing. I even had to call her to get info on renewing our 171H, getting refingerprinted, and updating our homestudy since they all expired during the wait. Bethany DID take great care of us IN China - 5 stars! But post-placement is another story. I had to email our SW to let her know we were home and in need of our first visit and again for our 6 month visit. I friend of ours who also adopted with BCS has been home over a year and has only had their initial home visit. They refuse to contact BCS to set up the 6 month or 12 month since BCS's own paperwork says that they will be the responsible party and schedule the appointments. We did PAY them for these services already and aren't receiving them unless we call and demand it. I know others have great sw's in other states, but ours is awful! We won't be using them again for any future adoptions.

Warning: Don't allow yourself to play the "Chrisitian" card - we did and our experience was regrettable, to say the least. Wished we had done our homework, on the front end vs. falling into the pratfall of choosing the Christian Organization. Should have ran from these folks!!!! Plenty of Conference Calls to handle issues with no action/results on their part! On their advice, we hired a lawyer ($4,000) to acquire apostile for our marriage license and as soon as we received document they informed us that we didn't need this - should have flushed the 4 Grand down the toilet!! At any point where we ran into "Roadblocks" within the process they pushed it off on us to resolve - had to hire a private attorney to navigate the marriage license fiasco and check up on their progress. Very little communication from St. Louis office to Home office or within Home office. Very little support thrpughout the process!!! THINK TWICE PRIOR TO UTILIZING BETHANY - ST. LOUIS!!!!!!!!!!!

Adopted our healthy, happy baby girl with a lot of support. The paperwork and placement occurred in a very timely manner with great communication. They are not for everyone (very religious), but show incredible dedication and respect to their birth parents and adoptive families.