Pros: The staff are all very kind, well-meaning people who care deeply about the cause of adoption.
They have a lovely social worker who made a perfect match for us.
We had a successful domestic adoption of a healthy newborn within the timeframes and budget promised.
Cons: They are woefully understaffed, therefore communication was poor both with us as clients and within the organization itself.
They mixed up our paperwork on several occasions.
The mismanagement of our paperwork caused big delays in our finalization last year.
We used JOH for 2 domestic adoptions once in March 03 and again in July 07. We have a son and daughter both born in OR. We waited almost a year for our son in 2003 and waited less than 3 months for our daughter in 2007. We were chosen by our daughters birthmother the first one we were shown to within 3 weeks.
I can't say anything bad about JOH there were always there for you if you had a question. If the domestic coordinator didn't call you back in 24 hours she was at a delivery of another birthmother. I never had a problem with communication from either the OR office or the IL office. I agree with what "I highly recommend Journeys of the Heart" said. I feel the same way she does. I never had a problem with them losing any paperwork and I don't think the office in OR looks like a bomb went off, its an old house space is limited.
We used Journeys of the Heart in Oregon to adopt both of our boys Domestically. Our first adoption was in 2005, we first contacted Journeys in September, our homestudy was complete by mid october and we were matched a week later. We were at the birth and the mother decided to parent (as she had every right to do) it was extremely difficult for us to walk through but it was the right choice. We met with Susan (the agency director) the next day and she was extremely kind, encouraging and understanding. She asked if we would like to take a step back or if we would like to stay in the program. We chose to stay in the program and we were shown again right away and chosen, three weeks later we brought our son home. With our second adoption, they were very honest up front saying it could take longer as we already had a child, I am personally very glad they are honest and wont tell you anything to have you as a client. We started working with them again for our second adoption in May of 2007, we were officially waiting June 15th. We got a call week later on June 21st saying we had been chosen and the baby had been born that morning. If you would like to read our adoption story in full, you can read it on my blog http://foreverfamilydesigns.blogspot.com/2008/01/our-adoption-journey.ht....
As far as the people who are complaining that the agency was honest about how you look, or your family, they cannot help or change what birthmothers are looking for in a family. They do not force an expectant mother to choose a certain couple, as that would be extremely unethical. Like it or not it is how domestic adoption works. I personally know two couples who were in their late 40s and early 50s who were chosen through Journeys adoption program in the last 6 months. Both couples waited less than one month to be chosen.
My experience with Journeys was great on both adoptions, I would definitely recommend them again. Please be aware that adoption is an extremely emotional experience, it is easy to forget their are many families at the agency going through the same roller coaster of emotions. There are also birth mom's to consider. I know that if my emails or phone calls were not returned with in 24 hours it was most likely because the domestic coordinator was attending a birth or meeting with an expectant mom. I do know that they were very quick to call us when we had been chosen, our paperwork was processed quickly and that our finalization's only took around 3 months after placement. Susan has always returned my calls, my boys birth families have said they are happy with their experience with Journeys and are treated well even after placement. They have also been great for us to work with even after our adoptions have been finalized, even attending a visit with our birthfamily out of town. I would definitely recommend Journeys.
We adopted our son from Guatemala through Journeys of the Heart, and had a great experience. We approached them when we had not yet determined how we would adopt - or where, once we'd settled on foreign adoption. They gave us honest and accurate information about the options to help us make the decision. We had a lot of support in visiting our son several times before he came home, beginning from when he was just 8 weeks old. They helped us find a supportive hotel, and hooked us up with a local friend who translates and helps run down documents etc. At the same time they were frank about how we were taking an emotional risk by going down before the adoption was finalized, and helped us understand how to be safe and avoid harassment as adoptive parents in Guatemala.
We were happy with their ethics, and their plain efforts to assure that the local lawyers that were necessary at that time were also ethical. while researching agencies, we read how Micronesia had had difficulties with some adoptions and suspended them until they could establish a central authority and procedure to assure ethics. Once they re-opened, of all the agencies that had operated there, it was only Journeys they trusted (at that time. - I'm sure there are more that have since passed their vetting) to shepherd adoptions to America. That impressed us.
I'm really puzzled about some of these other comments. We took their adoption training, and it was anything but 'euro-centric'. I've lived several years in other cultures, and trained volunteers at my museum in cultural sensitivity, and found their sessions respected the cultures of adopted children, and the need to stay connected with their birth cultures. A euro-centric training wouldn't have urged parents not to choose an anglo name to replace their child's first name of birth. Nor would that agency support and provide a communication forum for excellent groups like the Journeys parents of Marshall Islands children, who connect with the local Marshallese community and culture.
As far as: 'Unless you .... are young and in peak physical conditioning, look elsewhere. This agency does not want to work with you if you are older, fatter..." I was in my forties and 250lb when we approached them. No problem. They did frankly explain the requirements that each country had for foreign adoptions, including age, and were plain about the process of selection in domestic adoptions. Anyone looking for an adoption agency needs to understand that it must respect the rights of the entire adoption triad: Adopted children, adoptive parents and birth parents. Anything else would be unethical. Please don't assume that the agency is solely your representative in a negotiation with a birth mother. If you really wanted that, and all the ethical uncertainty it can lead to, you'd be posting ads in search of birth parents and retaining a lawyer to write a contract instead of investigating agencies.
Do understand, however, that David and Susan are self-confessed 'former hippies' and fairly laid-back. That doesn't mean lazy. Everyone there is hard-working, but do not stress about things they can't control ( or things for which getting control would be a wasteful allocation of resources). If you are a type-A personality, this agency might not be the one for you. They understand the nature of international adoption, how information is not always going to come as often as one might hope, how bureaucracies will confront them and you with contradictory instructions and requirements. They're used to the uncertainty and know how to endure it, but also assume that you can as well. Updates can be frustratingly sparse, but that is a function of the process as much as of the agency, and this is not an agency that will provide a lot of progress reports when nothing new has happened and only for the purpose of hand-holding.
Having said that, I never had any trouble getting in touch with them when I needed to for advice, information, or just the reassuring 'yup, nothing new. but there's nothing unusual about that, and it doesn't mean you need to worry'. In fact I had David's cell phone if I needed it and was able to call outside office hours (though I made that rare.)
In short, you'll want more than a cursory interview to get a sense of this agency's style, and to assure that it works with your personal style. If it does, I doubt you'll be disappointed. David, Susan, and their entire staff are supremely ethical, passionate and dedicated.
the test of a great agency is when things go belly-up with your adoption as ours did, will they support you even if they cannot advocate for you? This agency did not check out our birthmom, in fact, they didn't even verify that she was who she claimed to be OR that she was even pregnant. We flew out of state only to be scammed. When the "birthmom" did not show up for the scheduled "c-section" the agency in Hillsboro became MIA. The never returned our calls, the owners were always "out of the office", "just left for lunch", "in a meeting" etc... there were no apologies for their blunders, there were no offers of comfort or kindness to us in our grief, nothing but unreturned phone calls and THEN weeks later a terrible letter from David Slansky severing ties with us because we sought counsel after they wouldn't talk to us. If it hadn't been for the social worker at the hospital and the director of another agency who stepped up to the plate to help us (a long time associate of the SW at the hospital) we would have been completely lost in our grief.
We trusted this agency, they knew that our son had died, and we expected that they would perform their duties in a professional and thorough manner.
Also, if you have ever been to their office, you could see how the paperwork mix ups happen. It looks as if a bomb went off, and I thought they were remodeling, but this is what it always looks like!
If you need a reputable agency there are many: ASIA of Oregon, Heritage in Oregon, Adoption-Link in Oak Park, IL, Holt in Oregon, Open Adoption in Oregon.
This isn't the 1st time that we've had bad luck with an adoption when things didn't go as planned, but the other agency handled themselves before and after with professionalism and compassion. They also did their job at the beginning which JOA did not do.
Adoption is never a sure thing and can be a very rough road at times, you want an agency that is competent, professional, diligent, and on their game. You want an agency that will advocate for you when things go wrong.
Since our experience we have heard horror stories about JOA, and we have even met someone who sued them after 2 terrible screw-ups.
Horrible horrible horrible. Communication is non-existant and they will tell you not to expect to ever hear from them. WHAT???? Turn around time is lengthy. Comments are not terribly helpful when creating your profile. If you call, no one is ever available to speak with you, emails go unchecked and no responses are given. Paperwork is misplaced, and not recognized.....but the check was cashed quickly.
Unless you have all the time in the world, are young and in peak physical conditioning, look elsewhere. This agency does not want to work with you if you are older, fatter or too eager to proceed through the adoption process to bring a child home. They work on their own timeline and it's unlikely that their snail's pace matches your desire to receive a child quicky if at all.
We bought into the hype and wasted months when we could be looking for our child elsewhere!
I truly love Journeys of the Heart, their staff, their policies, their ways. This is just a excellent agency through and through. They remain in constant communication with you and the birth parents. They truly care about their birth parents and adoptive parents as individuals and not as profit.
We had some good and some bad with this agency. We had a good experince with the social workers and homestudy and at placement, but a terrible situation post-placement that was very difficult to go through.
With time I am starting to heal and realize that our situation was very specific and somewhat unusual. We do know that much blame falls on the contracted social worker Journey's hired and that she is no longer working with the agency. Journey's tried to correct things after the fact, though we feel that they sould have been more aware of the situation before it became a crisis. Unfortunately, I think we just entered the agency at the wrong time, before they were actually prepared to handle an adoption in our state, and our baby came so suddenly that the agency was left in a lurch. Our only wish is that they had been honest with us from the start and told us that they were not prepared for our adoption and that we should continue forward as an independent adoption, which we could have easily done.
I assume that Journeys learned from the mistakes made on our adoption and with time have made themselves more aware of adoption law in our state. I do believe that the staff has the capability of making good matches and supporting birthfamilies. I respect Susan and the social workers on staff and wish them the best in the future.
Journey's is TERRIBLE at providing support and customer service. They are EXCELLENT at cashing payments and getting a baby.
They misplaced documents, misspelled our names on forms, gave us conflicting information, and made us sit through the most euro-centric "adoption education class" that made us feel like we were in the 1980's again.
So, when you are not model perfect, rich, skinny, Olympic athletes, or crunchy granola types...where do you go to adopt?? Don't choose this agency. Apparantly birth mothers only want supermodels as parents..if you are anything less, you are unwelcome in their program.
Rude, sacrastic, act like you are wasting their time with your pesky questions. Cash your payments quickly enough, but do not help you to adopt...just wait you out.
If you are a real family- imperfect, hard working, eager to have your child come home....go elsewhere. This agency is too slow, too judgmental for us. We are looking elsewhere.
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Reviews
Journeys does a decent job.
Pros: The staff are all very kind, well-meaning people who care deeply about the cause of adoption.
They have a lovely social worker who made a perfect match for us.
We had a successful domestic adoption of a healthy newborn within the timeframes and budget promised.
Cons: They are woefully understaffed, therefore communication was poor both with us as clients and within the organization itself.
They mixed up our paperwork on several occasions.
The mismanagement of our paperwork caused big delays in our finalization last year.
Very happy with JOH
We used JOH for 2 domestic adoptions once in March 03 and again in July 07. We have a son and daughter both born in OR. We waited almost a year for our son in 2003 and waited less than 3 months for our daughter in 2007. We were chosen by our daughters birthmother the first one we were shown to within 3 weeks.
I can't say anything bad about JOH there were always there for you if you had a question. If the domestic coordinator didn't call you back in 24 hours she was at a delivery of another birthmother. I never had a problem with communication from either the OR office or the IL office. I agree with what "I highly recommend Journeys of the Heart" said. I feel the same way she does. I never had a problem with them losing any paperwork and I don't think the office in OR looks like a bomb went off, its an old house space is limited.
I Highly Recommend Journeys of the Heart
We used Journeys of the Heart in Oregon to adopt both of our boys Domestically. Our first adoption was in 2005, we first contacted Journeys in September, our homestudy was complete by mid october and we were matched a week later. We were at the birth and the mother decided to parent (as she had every right to do) it was extremely difficult for us to walk through but it was the right choice. We met with Susan (the agency director) the next day and she was extremely kind, encouraging and understanding. She asked if we would like to take a step back or if we would like to stay in the program. We chose to stay in the program and we were shown again right away and chosen, three weeks later we brought our son home. With our second adoption, they were very honest up front saying it could take longer as we already had a child, I am personally very glad they are honest and wont tell you anything to have you as a client. We started working with them again for our second adoption in May of 2007, we were officially waiting June 15th. We got a call week later on June 21st saying we had been chosen and the baby had been born that morning. If you would like to read our adoption story in full, you can read it on my blog http://foreverfamilydesigns.blogspot.com/2008/01/our-adoption-journey.ht....
As far as the people who are complaining that the agency was honest about how you look, or your family, they cannot help or change what birthmothers are looking for in a family. They do not force an expectant mother to choose a certain couple, as that would be extremely unethical. Like it or not it is how domestic adoption works. I personally know two couples who were in their late 40s and early 50s who were chosen through Journeys adoption program in the last 6 months. Both couples waited less than one month to be chosen.
My experience with Journeys was great on both adoptions, I would definitely recommend them again. Please be aware that adoption is an extremely emotional experience, it is easy to forget their are many families at the agency going through the same roller coaster of emotions. There are also birth mom's to consider. I know that if my emails or phone calls were not returned with in 24 hours it was most likely because the domestic coordinator was attending a birth or meeting with an expectant mom. I do know that they were very quick to call us when we had been chosen, our paperwork was processed quickly and that our finalization's only took around 3 months after placement. Susan has always returned my calls, my boys birth families have said they are happy with their experience with Journeys and are treated well even after placement. They have also been great for us to work with even after our adoptions have been finalized, even attending a visit with our birthfamily out of town. I would definitely recommend Journeys.
Had a Great Experience with Journeys
We adopted our son from Guatemala through Journeys of the Heart, and had a great experience. We approached them when we had not yet determined how we would adopt - or where, once we'd settled on foreign adoption. They gave us honest and accurate information about the options to help us make the decision. We had a lot of support in visiting our son several times before he came home, beginning from when he was just 8 weeks old. They helped us find a supportive hotel, and hooked us up with a local friend who translates and helps run down documents etc. At the same time they were frank about how we were taking an emotional risk by going down before the adoption was finalized, and helped us understand how to be safe and avoid harassment as adoptive parents in Guatemala.
We were happy with their ethics, and their plain efforts to assure that the local lawyers that were necessary at that time were also ethical. while researching agencies, we read how Micronesia had had difficulties with some adoptions and suspended them until they could establish a central authority and procedure to assure ethics. Once they re-opened, of all the agencies that had operated there, it was only Journeys they trusted (at that time. - I'm sure there are more that have since passed their vetting) to shepherd adoptions to America. That impressed us.
I'm really puzzled about some of these other comments. We took their adoption training, and it was anything but 'euro-centric'. I've lived several years in other cultures, and trained volunteers at my museum in cultural sensitivity, and found their sessions respected the cultures of adopted children, and the need to stay connected with their birth cultures. A euro-centric training wouldn't have urged parents not to choose an anglo name to replace their child's first name of birth. Nor would that agency support and provide a communication forum for excellent groups like the Journeys parents of Marshall Islands children, who connect with the local Marshallese community and culture.
As far as: 'Unless you .... are young and in peak physical conditioning, look elsewhere. This agency does not want to work with you if you are older, fatter..." I was in my forties and 250lb when we approached them. No problem. They did frankly explain the requirements that each country had for foreign adoptions, including age, and were plain about the process of selection in domestic adoptions. Anyone looking for an adoption agency needs to understand that it must respect the rights of the entire adoption triad: Adopted children, adoptive parents and birth parents. Anything else would be unethical. Please don't assume that the agency is solely your representative in a negotiation with a birth mother. If you really wanted that, and all the ethical uncertainty it can lead to, you'd be posting ads in search of birth parents and retaining a lawyer to write a contract instead of investigating agencies.
Do understand, however, that David and Susan are self-confessed 'former hippies' and fairly laid-back. That doesn't mean lazy. Everyone there is hard-working, but do not stress about things they can't control ( or things for which getting control would be a wasteful allocation of resources). If you are a type-A personality, this agency might not be the one for you. They understand the nature of international adoption, how information is not always going to come as often as one might hope, how bureaucracies will confront them and you with contradictory instructions and requirements. They're used to the uncertainty and know how to endure it, but also assume that you can as well. Updates can be frustratingly sparse, but that is a function of the process as much as of the agency, and this is not an agency that will provide a lot of progress reports when nothing new has happened and only for the purpose of hand-holding.
Having said that, I never had any trouble getting in touch with them when I needed to for advice, information, or just the reassuring 'yup, nothing new. but there's nothing unusual about that, and it doesn't mean you need to worry'. In fact I had David's cell phone if I needed it and was able to call outside office hours (though I made that rare.)
In short, you'll want more than a cursory interview to get a sense of this agency's style, and to assure that it works with your personal style. If it does, I doubt you'll be disappointed. David, Susan, and their entire staff are supremely ethical, passionate and dedicated.
this agency deserves zero stars
the test of a great agency is when things go belly-up with your adoption as ours did, will they support you even if they cannot advocate for you? This agency did not check out our birthmom, in fact, they didn't even verify that she was who she claimed to be OR that she was even pregnant. We flew out of state only to be scammed. When the "birthmom" did not show up for the scheduled "c-section" the agency in Hillsboro became MIA. The never returned our calls, the owners were always "out of the office", "just left for lunch", "in a meeting" etc... there were no apologies for their blunders, there were no offers of comfort or kindness to us in our grief, nothing but unreturned phone calls and THEN weeks later a terrible letter from David Slansky severing ties with us because we sought counsel after they wouldn't talk to us. If it hadn't been for the social worker at the hospital and the director of another agency who stepped up to the plate to help us (a long time associate of the SW at the hospital) we would have been completely lost in our grief.
We trusted this agency, they knew that our son had died, and we expected that they would perform their duties in a professional and thorough manner.
Also, if you have ever been to their office, you could see how the paperwork mix ups happen. It looks as if a bomb went off, and I thought they were remodeling, but this is what it always looks like!
If you need a reputable agency there are many: ASIA of Oregon, Heritage in Oregon, Adoption-Link in Oak Park, IL, Holt in Oregon, Open Adoption in Oregon.
This isn't the 1st time that we've had bad luck with an adoption when things didn't go as planned, but the other agency handled themselves before and after with professionalism and compassion. They also did their job at the beginning which JOA did not do.
Adoption is never a sure thing and can be a very rough road at times, you want an agency that is competent, professional, diligent, and on their game. You want an agency that will advocate for you when things go wrong.
Since our experience we have heard horror stories about JOA, and we have even met someone who sued them after 2 terrible screw-ups.
Good luck!
Run fast if you want actual assistance!
Horrible horrible horrible. Communication is non-existant and they will tell you not to expect to ever hear from them. WHAT???? Turn around time is lengthy. Comments are not terribly helpful when creating your profile. If you call, no one is ever available to speak with you, emails go unchecked and no responses are given. Paperwork is misplaced, and not recognized.....but the check was cashed quickly.
Unless you have all the time in the world, are young and in peak physical conditioning, look elsewhere. This agency does not want to work with you if you are older, fatter or too eager to proceed through the adoption process to bring a child home. They work on their own timeline and it's unlikely that their snail's pace matches your desire to receive a child quicky if at all.
We bought into the hype and wasted months when we could be looking for our child elsewhere!
Wish I could give Zero stars.
I Recommend This Agency to Anybody & Everybody!!!
I truly love Journeys of the Heart, their staff, their policies, their ways. This is just a excellent agency through and through. They remain in constant communication with you and the birth parents. They truly care about their birth parents and adoptive parents as individuals and not as profit.
My personal experience with this agency was mixed.
We had some good and some bad with this agency. We had a good experince with the social workers and homestudy and at placement, but a terrible situation post-placement that was very difficult to go through.
With time I am starting to heal and realize that our situation was very specific and somewhat unusual. We do know that much blame falls on the contracted social worker Journey's hired and that she is no longer working with the agency. Journey's tried to correct things after the fact, though we feel that they sould have been more aware of the situation before it became a crisis. Unfortunately, I think we just entered the agency at the wrong time, before they were actually prepared to handle an adoption in our state, and our baby came so suddenly that the agency was left in a lurch. Our only wish is that they had been honest with us from the start and told us that they were not prepared for our adoption and that we should continue forward as an independent adoption, which we could have easily done.
I assume that Journeys learned from the mistakes made on our adoption and with time have made themselves more aware of adoption law in our state. I do believe that the staff has the capability of making good matches and supporting birthfamilies. I respect Susan and the social workers on staff and wish them the best in the future.
stay away unless you're desperate!
Journey's is TERRIBLE at providing support and customer service. They are EXCELLENT at cashing payments and getting a baby.
They misplaced documents, misspelled our names on forms, gave us conflicting information, and made us sit through the most euro-centric "adoption education class" that made us feel like we were in the 1980's again.
Not marketable family??
So, when you are not model perfect, rich, skinny, Olympic athletes, or crunchy granola types...where do you go to adopt?? Don't choose this agency. Apparantly birth mothers only want supermodels as parents..if you are anything less, you are unwelcome in their program.
Rude, sacrastic, act like you are wasting their time with your pesky questions. Cash your payments quickly enough, but do not help you to adopt...just wait you out.
If you are a real family- imperfect, hard working, eager to have your child come home....go elsewhere. This agency is too slow, too judgmental for us. We are looking elsewhere.