We are currently adopting our second baby through H to H and have had such a great experience with them. I read all of the other reviews and I really have got to say that I have never had anything like what they are experiencing-and we have done this twice now. I know that they have A LOT of babies and NOT enough families. Yes, you heard me right-NOT enough families. Just last year they placed about 100 babies for adoption and that really is a lot of children for a small agency. I know that they are at times short staffed, but it seems to be better this year than last (we are adopting our Son's bio full brother-we adopted our son last year). They are always there when I need them. If you call the general number, sometimes they don't answer, but when you become approved for adoption your caseworker will have a personal cell phone number that you can call at anytime. Our caseworker really went above and beyond to be there when we needed her! I am giving them five stars because I truly believe they deserve it-because their hearts are in the right place. I didn't take off a star for the money part, because as we all know (those of you that have adopted) it is really expensive to adopt. I know that in the financial contract that you sign states that if you put money down on a situation and they situation does not come to fruition, that they will roll those fees into another situation-and I know that they have a lot of situations at anytime. If you are having problems with the money that you have put down, read the financial contract and see what it says. Anyway, we really owe a lot to H to H-we will soon have 3 children, two of whom have come through H to H. Thanks!
I had a great experience with Heart to Heart, as well as Donna Pope. I found her to be kind and caring, and truly has the best interest of the child at the forefront of the whole situation. Adoption in and of itself is risky and being prepared for that risk, emotionally, financially, etc., is part of what needs to be evaluated before heading down that road. It is scary, yet rewarding.
Their initial turn around on communication was very slow a week to ten days each time we were in contact with them. We did a special needs adoption through them. We found their fees high for this kind of adoption and it took over a month to speak to the child's case manager. When we finally spoke to the case manager, saw the file. A shift happened and communication improved dramatically. After this point they were very helpful and really went to bat to complete the placement.
We had a very wonderful experience with Heart to Heart. We now have a beautiful 3 month old baby boy because of them. We were only with their agency three weeks before we were matched with a BM, and than just a few hours later she went into labor. It all happened very fast and was a wonderful experience. I love how Heart to Heart takes such good care of their birthmom's! We will definitely use Hearth to Heart if we decide to adopt again.
I can't tell you how great of an expereince with Heart to Heart. Every person there was kind and very open to answer all my questions, sometimes 5 times a day. I would work with Heart to Heart again in a minute!
Our family has adopted two children through two different agencies. Heart to Heart was by far the better of the two. As a family we found everyone to be honest and extremely friendly. Everything was explained to us upfront and they handled our family with dignity. Our experience with Donna and her staff was top notch.
We LOVE Heart to Heart! My husband and I have adopted all three of our sweet babies through this agency, and they were outstanding to work with. The staff is top-notch, professional, and compassionate. Someone was ALWAYS available to answer our questions, and we feel the staff went above and beyond to help us grow our family. First and foremost, Heart to Heart puts great emphasis on the care of their birth mothers. The courageous birth mothers of our children raved about their experience in Utah with Heart to Heart. They felt cared about and taken care of and empowered. These women knew they were making the most important decision in their child's life, and with H2H, they were given the resources to make what they felt was the right decision... whether the end result was to parent or to place. We are so incredibly grateful for what this agency has done. We consider this group of women family now! Debi-my soul sister, speaks it like it is, funny, and just someone you'd like to hang out with on a regular basis... Rachel-available to step up and help at any time, also has a fun-contagious spirit... Donna-steadfast, undoubting, and believes the very best in people... Kim-a good listener, compassionate, friendly... Sondra-young, energetic, and has a gift working with birth mothers... and I could go on and on... Fabulous agency. Highly recommended for both birth mothers and adoptive families.
We were recommended by several people to go with Heart to Heart Adoptions in Sandy, UT. I am so glad that we took their advice and went with them. It was a rough journey at first, we were matched with a birth mother and at the last minute she changed her mind. The agency was there with us through the whole ordeal. They were caring and willing to come to our hotel and talk things through. We did lose money but that is what comes with adoption. The birth mother has the right to change their mind, as hard as that is for us adoptive families. After the failed they were in contact with us a lot. One month later we were matched again and Heart to Heart helped us along the way because we were on the overly cautious side. We had a great experience with them and they were very professional. I would recommend them to all my friends who are adopting. We will be going through them again for our next baby.
Verified. No initial fees for signing up with their agency. It doesn't sound like you even worked with them. They are a great agency. All of my fees minus what was spent on birth mother (which I was told ahead of time) was rolled over to another situation.
Verified. No initial fees for signing up with their agency. It doesn't sound like you even worked with them. They are a great agency. All of my fees minus what was spent on birth mother (which I was told ahead of time) was rolled over to another situation.
If I could give zero stars I would. After being placed with a birth mother, an agency social worker for Heart to Heart insulted me for asking a question! To spare the details, the social worker, after only talking to me for two minutes or less, called me "selfish" for asking a question! I have never been insulted by a business professional, let alone an emotional business like adoption. I was beyond shocked and hurt that she called me "selfish"! How unprofessional and also mean, especially considering she knew we had gone through a failed adoption less than a month before.
After calling me selfish, I told her "I can't believe you called me selfish" and tried to further explain my question. She then just hands the phone to another worker, basically hanging up on me! She couldn't even respond to my reply, and just hands the phone to an worker who doesn't know what is going on.
I was also less than impressed by the agency response when I told the Exec. Director I was insulted. Although she apologized for "how I felt" she never apologized for calling me "selfish" and the worker herself never apologized personally. I got the impression the worker was not even disciplined for the incident.
Other reasons to AVOID this agency at all costs. You can never reach anyone on the phone. Ever. Email communication is spotty as well. They also try to spend as little time as possible with you as a client. When I was told a birth mother picked us, the worker basically was going to just hang up on me, and not give me any details. I had to probe and pry for any info on the birth mother and where we would go from there. I was not informed upfront of certain requirements the birth mother had in terms of how and where to meet us ahead of the birth. I also read in the profile they sent us on her that she wanted letters and photos only, but then later the social worker who worked with her directly said she wanted visits. one social worker told me it was their agency policy to always meet the birth parents for dinner the night before the delivery. Then another social worker said this was not a policy, and every situation is different depending on what birth mother wants.
My overall impression is that this business is there to make money (not always a bad thing, but...) and they will try and make a placment happen by manipulating birth parents and adoptive parents. It is very much a "my way or the highway" agency with ZERO regard for feelings, needs of the adoptive parents. You are their cash cows, and you better just shut up and do what they say, or get insulted and made to feel guilty. And to top if off, they are one of the most expensive agencies we have found.
Our experience with this agency was so bad we not only decided to abandon the agency, we decided to abandon adoption entirely and are now trying to get pregnant. I can't explain to you how hurt and insulted I was by this agency's staff. You are left feeling like as an adoptive parents you have zero say, rights, feelings, or needs and you are nothing but a way to make money and that you have to put forth all the risk (financial, emotional) while being insulted. And if you don't smile while being exploited, then I guess you are "selfish".
Don't make the mistake we made! Avoid this agency and find one that actually cares!
I submitted an application for adoption with Heart to Heart because I received a good referral from a reliable source. Unfortunately, from day one, it was a bad and disappointing experience. To begin with, None of my phone calls were returned, even after several weeks. I then pursued the route of email, only to be ignored again or re-routed to the secretary who left me a message that had nothing to do with the questions I was asking. I began to become frustrated and called yet again and left more messages...none of them were returned.
At about this time, the director Donna Pope sent me a short two sentence email informing me that I was not being accepted to the agency and that I should look somewhere else to adopt a child. In the email she stated that she found out some information about me that disqualified me. Hello? I had yet to even talk to ANYONE at the agency. Also, they knew nothing about me or my situation (except the info on my application) and had not bothered to investigate or probe further into the perceived disqualifying information. I eventually found out that Donna Pope and her staff made assumptions and incorrect conclusions about me and in turn decided to disqualify me without even discussing the matter with me. It was also confirmed that Donna had lied and been dishonest in her email to me. Donna and her staff also decided to unprofessionally discuss my situation with my acquaintance who referred me in the first place - making a difficult situation and conveying feelings and words that were never spoken or intended.
This agency is more like a sorority gone bad, with back stabbing and juvenile behavior with preference given to the most popular applicants. I AM SO GLAD I GOT OUT OF THERE BEFORE I HAD MONEY INVESTED. I mistakenly thought this agency was all about matching kids needing loving homes with willing and loving adoptive parents. The lack of respect and decency was repulsive. I regret that I have to even write such a negative review, I just hope I can save someone from heartache, wasted time and disrespectful treatment.
I know many of you soon to be or current adoptive parents could probly careless, but you should. If you have a heart you will not deal with this agency. I am a birth mother and this agency lied to me and assured me of these great parents for my son and although I was scared and alone I was told after having my son how I needed to let him go after telling them I wanted my son. I was promised that my adoptive family agreed on the terms of an open adoption.Needless to say once they convinced me to sign away my son I was treated like trash all of the supposed care and support was gone along with my baby. You should not want to deal with an agency with no ethics, no honor. Search for a honest agency even if it takes longer your child will love that their birth mother was treated with respect and was not forced or decieved into giving up their child. May God lead you to an honest agency.
We had a bad experiance with Heart to Heart in Utah. After being matched for only a few short weeks and spending 2 weeks in Utah the birthmom we were matched with gave birth and changed her mind...this we of course knew was a risk and although we were upset we could have handled this. What we were not prepared for was when 3 days after the birthmom changed her mind Donna called us on a friday evening, when we were set to leave first thing the following morning and notified us of the $12,000+ we had put forward for the situation that we had only been matched with for 2-3 weeks that we were out $10,000 in birthmom expences. The application we had signed with the agency had stated we began to SHARE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ONCE MATCHED with a birthmom. We were matched and sent the fees in just 2-3 weeks earlier and had been assured that if the situation didn't work out our fees, minus direct birthmom expences, would be rolled over to a new situation...we were comfortable because how much could birthmom expences be for 2-3 weeks, when birthmom had medical care...well after things feel through Donna states no we are responsible for fees from the time they started working with the birth mom. We line item by line item argued each fee and got a few thousand back but were still out over $7000 to the agency. Add to that the fact that during the 2 weeks we spent in Utah we had only 2 face to face contacts with the agency ( once when we went to dinner with the birthmom ) and then once the friday morning before Donna called us when we showed up at the office to drop off papers and to try to talk to someone but noone was available to see us...we would call multiple times and leave messages just to get phone text messages back from the agency personnel. Even when we texted back for them to please call us we would get texts back telling us they were busy. Overall we had very poor and unprofessional communication from the agency.
Heart to Heart should be named Heartless to Heartless. The CFO Donna Pope is very unprofessional and is a liar. The agency matched us to a birthmother that was not pregnant. Of course, we found this out after we sent the agency $16,000. Due to the circumstances, Donna promised to refund the money if we were matched to a case with another agency before they could locate a case for us. We were matched to a case with another agency 1 year ago, Heart to Heart as yet to refund the funds promised. I would not recommond this agency to my worst enemy. Donna Pope has not communicated with us since we requested the funds. Take our advice - STAY AWAY FROM HEART TO HEART IN SANDY UTAH.
@fatherof7 - I believe the 'initial' fees that "disgusted" is referring to are the fees that Heart to Heart requires once someone is matched. BTW- it's initial, not intial : ). I know this thread is a year and a half ago, but we are currently facing issues with Heart to Heart and am on my way to being disgusted unless they do what an upstanding agency would do.
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Reviews
Great Agency-only draw back are the fees
We are currently adopting our second baby through H to H and have had such a great experience with them. I read all of the other reviews and I really have got to say that I have never had anything like what they are experiencing-and we have done this twice now. I know that they have A LOT of babies and NOT enough families. Yes, you heard me right-NOT enough families. Just last year they placed about 100 babies for adoption and that really is a lot of children for a small agency. I know that they are at times short staffed, but it seems to be better this year than last (we are adopting our Son's bio full brother-we adopted our son last year). They are always there when I need them. If you call the general number, sometimes they don't answer, but when you become approved for adoption your caseworker will have a personal cell phone number that you can call at anytime. Our caseworker really went above and beyond to be there when we needed her! I am giving them five stars because I truly believe they deserve it-because their hearts are in the right place. I didn't take off a star for the money part, because as we all know (those of you that have adopted) it is really expensive to adopt. I know that in the financial contract that you sign states that if you put money down on a situation and they situation does not come to fruition, that they will roll those fees into another situation-and I know that they have a lot of situations at anytime. If you are having problems with the money that you have put down, read the financial contract and see what it says. Anyway, we really owe a lot to H to H-we will soon have 3 children, two of whom have come through H to H. Thanks!
I had a great experience.
I had a great experience with Heart to Heart, as well as Donna Pope. I found her to be kind and caring, and truly has the best interest of the child at the forefront of the whole situation. Adoption in and of itself is risky and being prepared for that risk, emotionally, financially, etc., is part of what needs to be evaluated before heading down that road. It is scary, yet rewarding.
Their initial turn around on
Their initial turn around on communication was very slow a week to ten days each time we were in contact with them. We did a special needs adoption through them. We found their fees high for this kind of adoption and it took over a month to speak to the child's case manager. When we finally spoke to the case manager, saw the file. A shift happened and communication improved dramatically. After this point they were very helpful and really went to bat to complete the placement.
Made our dreams come true
We had a very wonderful experience with Heart to Heart. We now have a beautiful 3 month old baby boy because of them. We were only with their agency three weeks before we were matched with a BM, and than just a few hours later she went into labor. It all happened very fast and was a wonderful experience. I love how Heart to Heart takes such good care of their birthmom's! We will definitely use Hearth to Heart if we decide to adopt again.
Great expereince
I can't tell you how great of an expereince with Heart to Heart. Every person there was kind and very open to answer all my questions, sometimes 5 times a day. I would work with Heart to Heart again in a minute!
Natalie
Loved working with Heart to Heart
Our family has adopted two children through two different agencies. Heart to Heart was by far the better of the two. As a family we found everyone to be honest and extremely friendly. Everything was explained to us upfront and they handled our family with dignity. Our experience with Donna and her staff was top notch.
BEST. AGENCY. EVER.
We LOVE Heart to Heart! My husband and I have adopted all three of our sweet babies through this agency, and they were outstanding to work with. The staff is top-notch, professional, and compassionate. Someone was ALWAYS available to answer our questions, and we feel the staff went above and beyond to help us grow our family. First and foremost, Heart to Heart puts great emphasis on the care of their birth mothers. The courageous birth mothers of our children raved about their experience in Utah with Heart to Heart. They felt cared about and taken care of and empowered. These women knew they were making the most important decision in their child's life, and with H2H, they were given the resources to make what they felt was the right decision... whether the end result was to parent or to place. We are so incredibly grateful for what this agency has done. We consider this group of women family now! Debi-my soul sister, speaks it like it is, funny, and just someone you'd like to hang out with on a regular basis... Rachel-available to step up and help at any time, also has a fun-contagious spirit... Donna-steadfast, undoubting, and believes the very best in people... Kim-a good listener, compassionate, friendly... Sondra-young, energetic, and has a gift working with birth mothers... and I could go on and on... Fabulous agency. Highly recommended for both birth mothers and adoptive families.
Amazing Agency that Cares
We were recommended by several people to go with Heart to Heart Adoptions in Sandy, UT. I am so glad that we took their advice and went with them. It was a rough journey at first, we were matched with a birth mother and at the last minute she changed her mind. The agency was there with us through the whole ordeal. They were caring and willing to come to our hotel and talk things through. We did lose money but that is what comes with adoption. The birth mother has the right to change their mind, as hard as that is for us adoptive families. After the failed they were in contact with us a lot. One month later we were matched again and Heart to Heart helped us along the way because we were on the overly cautious side. We had a great experience with them and they were very professional. I would recommend them to all my friends who are adopting. We will be going through them again for our next baby.
Inital fees
Verified. No initial fees for signing up with their agency. It doesn't sound like you even worked with them. They are a great agency. All of my fees minus what was spent on birth mother (which I was told ahead of time) was rolled over to another situation.
Inital fees
Verified. No initial fees for signing up with their agency. It doesn't sound like you even worked with them. They are a great agency. All of my fees minus what was spent on birth mother (which I was told ahead of time) was rolled over to another situation.
Poor Communication and they Insult Clients!
If I could give zero stars I would. After being placed with a birth mother, an agency social worker for Heart to Heart insulted me for asking a question! To spare the details, the social worker, after only talking to me for two minutes or less, called me "selfish" for asking a question! I have never been insulted by a business professional, let alone an emotional business like adoption. I was beyond shocked and hurt that she called me "selfish"! How unprofessional and also mean, especially considering she knew we had gone through a failed adoption less than a month before.
After calling me selfish, I told her "I can't believe you called me selfish" and tried to further explain my question. She then just hands the phone to another worker, basically hanging up on me! She couldn't even respond to my reply, and just hands the phone to an worker who doesn't know what is going on.
I was also less than impressed by the agency response when I told the Exec. Director I was insulted. Although she apologized for "how I felt" she never apologized for calling me "selfish" and the worker herself never apologized personally. I got the impression the worker was not even disciplined for the incident.
Other reasons to AVOID this agency at all costs. You can never reach anyone on the phone. Ever. Email communication is spotty as well. They also try to spend as little time as possible with you as a client. When I was told a birth mother picked us, the worker basically was going to just hang up on me, and not give me any details. I had to probe and pry for any info on the birth mother and where we would go from there. I was not informed upfront of certain requirements the birth mother had in terms of how and where to meet us ahead of the birth. I also read in the profile they sent us on her that she wanted letters and photos only, but then later the social worker who worked with her directly said she wanted visits. one social worker told me it was their agency policy to always meet the birth parents for dinner the night before the delivery. Then another social worker said this was not a policy, and every situation is different depending on what birth mother wants.
My overall impression is that this business is there to make money (not always a bad thing, but...) and they will try and make a placment happen by manipulating birth parents and adoptive parents. It is very much a "my way or the highway" agency with ZERO regard for feelings, needs of the adoptive parents. You are their cash cows, and you better just shut up and do what they say, or get insulted and made to feel guilty. And to top if off, they are one of the most expensive agencies we have found.
Our experience with this agency was so bad we not only decided to abandon the agency, we decided to abandon adoption entirely and are now trying to get pregnant. I can't explain to you how hurt and insulted I was by this agency's staff. You are left feeling like as an adoptive parents you have zero say, rights, feelings, or needs and you are nothing but a way to make money and that you have to put forth all the risk (financial, emotional) while being insulted. And if you don't smile while being exploited, then I guess you are "selfish".
Don't make the mistake we made! Avoid this agency and find one that actually cares!
UNPROFESSIONAL, HEARTLESS & DISHONEST
I submitted an application for adoption with Heart to Heart because I received a good referral from a reliable source. Unfortunately, from day one, it was a bad and disappointing experience. To begin with, None of my phone calls were returned, even after several weeks. I then pursued the route of email, only to be ignored again or re-routed to the secretary who left me a message that had nothing to do with the questions I was asking. I began to become frustrated and called yet again and left more messages...none of them were returned.
At about this time, the director Donna Pope sent me a short two sentence email informing me that I was not being accepted to the agency and that I should look somewhere else to adopt a child. In the email she stated that she found out some information about me that disqualified me. Hello? I had yet to even talk to ANYONE at the agency. Also, they knew nothing about me or my situation (except the info on my application) and had not bothered to investigate or probe further into the perceived disqualifying information. I eventually found out that Donna Pope and her staff made assumptions and incorrect conclusions about me and in turn decided to disqualify me without even discussing the matter with me. It was also confirmed that Donna had lied and been dishonest in her email to me. Donna and her staff also decided to unprofessionally discuss my situation with my acquaintance who referred me in the first place - making a difficult situation and conveying feelings and words that were never spoken or intended.
This agency is more like a sorority gone bad, with back stabbing and juvenile behavior with preference given to the most popular applicants. I AM SO GLAD I GOT OUT OF THERE BEFORE I HAD MONEY INVESTED. I mistakenly thought this agency was all about matching kids needing loving homes with willing and loving adoptive parents. The lack of respect and decency was repulsive. I regret that I have to even write such a negative review, I just hope I can save someone from heartache, wasted time and disrespectful treatment.
Liars. Snakes. and Con's Oh My!
I know many of you soon to be or current adoptive parents could probly careless, but you should. If you have a heart you will not deal with this agency. I am a birth mother and this agency lied to me and assured me of these great parents for my son and although I was scared and alone I was told after having my son how I needed to let him go after telling them I wanted my son. I was promised that my adoptive family agreed on the terms of an open adoption.Needless to say once they convinced me to sign away my son I was treated like trash all of the supposed care and support was gone along with my baby. You should not want to deal with an agency with no ethics, no honor. Search for a honest agency even if it takes longer your child will love that their birth mother was treated with respect and was not forced or decieved into giving up their child. May God lead you to an honest agency.
Bad experiance with Heart to Heart in Utah
We had a bad experiance with Heart to Heart in Utah. After being matched for only a few short weeks and spending 2 weeks in Utah the birthmom we were matched with gave birth and changed her mind...this we of course knew was a risk and although we were upset we could have handled this. What we were not prepared for was when 3 days after the birthmom changed her mind Donna called us on a friday evening, when we were set to leave first thing the following morning and notified us of the $12,000+ we had put forward for the situation that we had only been matched with for 2-3 weeks that we were out $10,000 in birthmom expences. The application we had signed with the agency had stated we began to SHARE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ONCE MATCHED with a birthmom. We were matched and sent the fees in just 2-3 weeks earlier and had been assured that if the situation didn't work out our fees, minus direct birthmom expences, would be rolled over to a new situation...we were comfortable because how much could birthmom expences be for 2-3 weeks, when birthmom had medical care...well after things feel through Donna states no we are responsible for fees from the time they started working with the birth mom. We line item by line item argued each fee and got a few thousand back but were still out over $7000 to the agency. Add to that the fact that during the 2 weeks we spent in Utah we had only 2 face to face contacts with the agency ( once when we went to dinner with the birthmom ) and then once the friday morning before Donna called us when we showed up at the office to drop off papers and to try to talk to someone but noone was available to see us...we would call multiple times and leave messages just to get phone text messages back from the agency personnel. Even when we texted back for them to please call us we would get texts back telling us they were busy. Overall we had very poor and unprofessional communication from the agency.
We would not recommend this agency.
Unprofessional Adoption Agency
Heart to Heart should be named Heartless to Heartless. The CFO Donna Pope is very unprofessional and is a liar. The agency matched us to a birthmother that was not pregnant. Of course, we found this out after we sent the agency $16,000. Due to the circumstances, Donna promised to refund the money if we were matched to a case with another agency before they could locate a case for us. We were matched to a case with another agency 1 year ago, Heart to Heart as yet to refund the funds promised. I would not recommond this agency to my worst enemy. Donna Pope has not communicated with us since we requested the funds. Take our advice - STAY AWAY FROM HEART TO HEART IN SANDY UTAH.
Semantics
@fatherof7 - I believe the 'initial' fees that "disgusted" is referring to are the fees that Heart to Heart requires once someone is matched. BTW- it's initial, not intial : ). I know this thread is a year and a half ago, but we are currently facing issues with Heart to Heart and am on my way to being disgusted unless they do what an upstanding agency would do.