We are VERY happy with Gladney. We will be bringing home our little girl from Ethiopia in a few weeks and everything has gone as smoothly as possible. There were some hiccups and we were unhappy things didn't move faster, but none of that was Gladney's fault. We were initially told by the person answering our first phone call that it generally takes about 10 months, less than a year, from start to finish. That was not the case with us. It will have taken us 1 year and 3 months. Yes, they were a bit too optomistic on the phone, but that was just that one woman. Once we signed on and were assigned a contact person she was very upfront about unforseeable events which could make the process longer. Especially in international adoption when they have to abide by another country's laws.
When adoptions were paused for 2 months, which didn't affect us because it was early in our process, they emailed everyone to say why and every week they updated us as to what was going on. Other agencies didn't tell their clients anything and they were left begging for information on yahoo groups. Only Gladney had the decency to let their clients know exactly what was going on as soon as they knew it. They would email transcripts of exact conversations between their staff in Ethiopia and the officials there so there would be full disclosure.
I fully recommend Gladney for adopting from Ethiopia. Their staff in Ethiopia is wonderful and sends monthly updates with pictures and they always answer any questions you may have along the way. Maybe it's because their staff there is American, but it seems to run very smoothly over there. We are 100% happy!
We could not be happier with Gladney. WE LOVE GLADNEY! Everything they told us was right on. Our caseworker was very up front about everything. We were looking for a healthy newborn and they found us our beautiful daughter. They told us the average wait time for a healthy newborn was 9-18 months, 13 months was the average, well 13 months after our approval we were matched with our beautiful baby girl, whose birthmother chose adoption for while in the hospital. Needless to say, we had a short 4 day wait to pick her up while we needed to update a few things. When choosing Gladney we knew Gladney was a bit more expensive and we are not wealthy, but we also did our research and discovered that they have their act together and that is what we wanted.
We are using the NYC office for our China Adoption. Four years ago the staff was excellent with regards to communication and help, now, well it's not so great. Correspondence regarding CCAA updates and the release of the SN list is dated. So most of the information I gain about the program is from other sources like other agencies websites and adoption groups. I would really have to think twice about using them again.
We really can't say enough good things about Gladney. We just completed a domestic adoption, and had a great experience from beginning to end. At our orientation, they were quite honest about the time it would take - and actually said that if speed was what we were looking for, another agency may be a better fit. The paperwork phase of our homestudy took a long time, but that was due to a state clearance, it had nothing to do with Gladney.
Along the way, the support and communication was perfect. If I had a question, it was usually answered immediately and always within 24 hours. We knew we could ask whatever questions we needed to - even when it was just "how do we survive the wait?" As paperwork was received by them, we were continuously updated. There were no surprises, everything was explained very clearly, and we always knew where we were and what came next.
Our wait was unusually short. Once all of our paperwork was in, our homestudy was completed in two months, and it was only 5 1/2 months from approval to bringing home our son. All together, 13 months from orientation to becoming parents.
One of the things that really stands out about Gladney are the post-adoption services. I definitely feel as though they are there to offer support to our family for the long term. We will adopt again in the future, and will absolutely use Gladney again.
Thanks for letting me know about this site.
We LOVE Gladney! They are very organized and they truly care about these children. We are adopting from Ethiopia and they do so much for the children and the country over there.
I can't say anything bad about Gladney. Overall, I couldn't be happier with them!
My husband and I are now proud parents to a beautiful baby boy. We came to Gladney after talking with other family members who adopted and a couple who adopted from Ethiopia through Gladney. Although we chose a domestic adoption, the process was amazing. From the time we went to orientation to the time we came home with our son took approximately 12 months.
Our case worker was amazing, answered any and all of our questions, and quickly returned phone calls and emails when it came time for placement. We have the most wonderful birth mother whom we keep in contact with almost weekly.
There were no surpises throughout the process - the legal team did a wonderful job and we can't wait to go out for finalization in six months. Gladney was completely up front and honest with us about the wait time, pool of birth mothers, etc. We were surprised that our adoption moved so quickly. At orientation, we got a chance to meet with a couple who was matched quickly in the process. The AP mom was actually there for the birth, but the BM changed her mind. On the 2nd match, things went really well and they have a healthy, happy son. Gladney was completely realistic and upfront about all possibilities as was our BM - it made a difficult journey one that was happy and memorable. I would recommend Gladney to anyone!!
we attended orientation in February, were approved in May, and matched in early August. Our baby girl is due in October, and we have been nothing short of thrilled with everything Gladney has had to offer.
We are working with their ABC program, and the wait was supposed to be 6-9 months from date of approval. Ours will be (hopefully) just 5 months.
The young woman that chose us is amazing in every way, and we just feel so blessed.
My husband and I have now been approved and waiting with Gladney in Texas for 17 months. Overall Gladney has their stuff together and does everything perfect - except - telling the truth. They didn't right out lie, but they left out information and made everything sound better at orientation. They said a statment I'll never forget to a room full of 40 couples. It was Nov 2006 and they said "most of you will have a baby by the next holiday season." Well that melted my heart and I thought if they are willing to say that, they must be sure. The average wait of 12 months has been right for some I guess. I see people on the website get babies after a few months, 6 months whenever, but my husband and I along with about 10 other couples have been waiting a long time. They also said they were so great at counseling women, birthmoms almost never changed their mind, well we went to get our baby boy in October 2007 as excited and happy as I've ever been in my life only to learn they changed their mind. We were offered one I'm sorry and that was it, nothing to help us coap with the pain. Oh and the lie "we really try to get your profile out there after something like this happens." Its a very very difficult thing that I still believe will become the most wonderful thing I ever do, but know that the agency makes things sunnier than they are.
We used Gladney 3 yrs ago when adopting from Ukraine. While Gladney was fine when we were in the US, the agency that they sub-contracted to in Ukraine is not one we would recommend and Gladney had no authority to question then about excessive "surprise" charges once we were in country. We never were able to get even a receipt for the money provided to the sub-contracted agency. Many problems in country -- but we do have a wonderful healthy child. We recommend Gladney only with reservations.
Initially when we started with Gladney in 2005 we thought they were wonderful. Our original social worker, Andrea was knowledgable and always quick to reapond to questions. Over the 2 years we worked with them there have been numerous staff changes in their NY office and at times they seem understaffed. While in China we ran into problems with our daughter. To our surprise she was very ill and as a result the consulate questioned us being able to bring her back to the US. She was even being referred to as a "special needs" child which was not what had requested. As a result we had to be in contact with Gladney and our overall feeling was that they were not nearly as helpful as we would have wanted. For the other families in our group whose babies were healthy things went smoothly and their reactions to Gladney were positive. For us we felt like while in China we were put in a poisition that no adoptive parents should have been placed in and Gladney's support was lacking.
I could not recommend a better agency. I have talked to other families that have adopted children from Guatemala (and other countries, too) using several different agencies. They have always been amazed at the professionalism and precision at which our adoption went through. Gladney might be a little bit more costly than other agencies but you definitely reap the benefits of this agency.
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Reviews
VERY TRUSTWORTHY! ETHIOPIA!
We are VERY happy with Gladney. We will be bringing home our little girl from Ethiopia in a few weeks and everything has gone as smoothly as possible. There were some hiccups and we were unhappy things didn't move faster, but none of that was Gladney's fault. We were initially told by the person answering our first phone call that it generally takes about 10 months, less than a year, from start to finish. That was not the case with us. It will have taken us 1 year and 3 months. Yes, they were a bit too optomistic on the phone, but that was just that one woman. Once we signed on and were assigned a contact person she was very upfront about unforseeable events which could make the process longer. Especially in international adoption when they have to abide by another country's laws.
When adoptions were paused for 2 months, which didn't affect us because it was early in our process, they emailed everyone to say why and every week they updated us as to what was going on. Other agencies didn't tell their clients anything and they were left begging for information on yahoo groups. Only Gladney had the decency to let their clients know exactly what was going on as soon as they knew it. They would email transcripts of exact conversations between their staff in Ethiopia and the officials there so there would be full disclosure.
I fully recommend Gladney for adopting from Ethiopia. Their staff in Ethiopia is wonderful and sends monthly updates with pictures and they always answer any questions you may have along the way. Maybe it's because their staff there is American, but it seems to run very smoothly over there. We are 100% happy!
Domestic program
We could not be happier with Gladney. WE LOVE GLADNEY! Everything they told us was right on. Our caseworker was very up front about everything. We were looking for a healthy newborn and they found us our beautiful daughter. They told us the average wait time for a healthy newborn was 9-18 months, 13 months was the average, well 13 months after our approval we were matched with our beautiful baby girl, whose birthmother chose adoption for while in the hospital. Needless to say, we had a short 4 day wait to pick her up while we needed to update a few things. When choosing Gladney we knew Gladney was a bit more expensive and we are not wealthy, but we also did our research and discovered that they have their act together and that is what we wanted.
It's an OK agency but could be better
We are using the NYC office for our China Adoption. Four years ago the staff was excellent with regards to communication and help, now, well it's not so great. Correspondence regarding CCAA updates and the release of the SN list is dated. So most of the information I gain about the program is from other sources like other agencies websites and adoption groups. I would really have to think twice about using them again.
Can't say enough good things
We really can't say enough good things about Gladney. We just completed a domestic adoption, and had a great experience from beginning to end. At our orientation, they were quite honest about the time it would take - and actually said that if speed was what we were looking for, another agency may be a better fit. The paperwork phase of our homestudy took a long time, but that was due to a state clearance, it had nothing to do with Gladney.
Along the way, the support and communication was perfect. If I had a question, it was usually answered immediately and always within 24 hours. We knew we could ask whatever questions we needed to - even when it was just "how do we survive the wait?" As paperwork was received by them, we were continuously updated. There were no surprises, everything was explained very clearly, and we always knew where we were and what came next.
Our wait was unusually short. Once all of our paperwork was in, our homestudy was completed in two months, and it was only 5 1/2 months from approval to bringing home our son. All together, 13 months from orientation to becoming parents.
One of the things that really stands out about Gladney are the post-adoption services. I definitely feel as though they are there to offer support to our family for the long term. We will adopt again in the future, and will absolutely use Gladney again.
LOVE Gladney
Thanks for letting me know about this site.
We LOVE Gladney! They are very organized and they truly care about these children. We are adopting from Ethiopia and they do so much for the children and the country over there.
I can't say anything bad about Gladney. Overall, I couldn't be happier with them!
VERY HAPPY WITH GLADNEY
My husband and I are now proud parents to a beautiful baby boy. We came to Gladney after talking with other family members who adopted and a couple who adopted from Ethiopia through Gladney. Although we chose a domestic adoption, the process was amazing. From the time we went to orientation to the time we came home with our son took approximately 12 months.
Our case worker was amazing, answered any and all of our questions, and quickly returned phone calls and emails when it came time for placement. We have the most wonderful birth mother whom we keep in contact with almost weekly.
There were no surpises throughout the process - the legal team did a wonderful job and we can't wait to go out for finalization in six months. Gladney was completely up front and honest with us about the wait time, pool of birth mothers, etc. We were surprised that our adoption moved so quickly. At orientation, we got a chance to meet with a couple who was matched quickly in the process. The AP mom was actually there for the birth, but the BM changed her mind. On the 2nd match, things went really well and they have a healthy, happy son. Gladney was completely realistic and upfront about all possibilities as was our BM - it made a difficult journey one that was happy and memorable. I would recommend Gladney to anyone!!
Very happy with Gladney
we attended orientation in February, were approved in May, and matched in early August. Our baby girl is due in October, and we have been nothing short of thrilled with everything Gladney has had to offer.
We are working with their ABC program, and the wait was supposed to be 6-9 months from date of approval. Ours will be (hopefully) just 5 months.
The young woman that chose us is amazing in every way, and we just feel so blessed.
currently adopting from Gladney
My husband and I have now been approved and waiting with Gladney in Texas for 17 months. Overall Gladney has their stuff together and does everything perfect - except - telling the truth. They didn't right out lie, but they left out information and made everything sound better at orientation. They said a statment I'll never forget to a room full of 40 couples. It was Nov 2006 and they said "most of you will have a baby by the next holiday season." Well that melted my heart and I thought if they are willing to say that, they must be sure. The average wait of 12 months has been right for some I guess. I see people on the website get babies after a few months, 6 months whenever, but my husband and I along with about 10 other couples have been waiting a long time. They also said they were so great at counseling women, birthmoms almost never changed their mind, well we went to get our baby boy in October 2007 as excited and happy as I've ever been in my life only to learn they changed their mind. We were offered one I'm sorry and that was it, nothing to help us coap with the pain. Oh and the lie "we really try to get your profile out there after something like this happens." Its a very very difficult thing that I still believe will become the most wonderful thing I ever do, but know that the agency makes things sunnier than they are.
Ukraine
We used Gladney 3 yrs ago when adopting from Ukraine. While Gladney was fine when we were in the US, the agency that they sub-contracted to in Ukraine is not one we would recommend and Gladney had no authority to question then about excessive "surprise" charges once we were in country. We never were able to get even a receipt for the money provided to the sub-contracted agency. Many problems in country -- but we do have a wonderful healthy child. We recommend Gladney only with reservations.
international adoption from China
Initially when we started with Gladney in 2005 we thought they were wonderful. Our original social worker, Andrea was knowledgable and always quick to reapond to questions. Over the 2 years we worked with them there have been numerous staff changes in their NY office and at times they seem understaffed. While in China we ran into problems with our daughter. To our surprise she was very ill and as a result the consulate questioned us being able to bring her back to the US. She was even being referred to as a "special needs" child which was not what had requested. As a result we had to be in contact with Gladney and our overall feeling was that they were not nearly as helpful as we would have wanted. For the other families in our group whose babies were healthy things went smoothly and their reactions to Gladney were positive. For us we felt like while in China we were put in a poisition that no adoptive parents should have been placed in and Gladney's support was lacking.
international adoption from Guatemala
I could not recommend a better agency. I have talked to other families that have adopted children from Guatemala (and other countries, too) using several different agencies. They have always been amazed at the professionalism and precision at which our adoption went through. Gladney might be a little bit more costly than other agencies but you definitely reap the benefits of this agency.