We've adopted two precious children through Lifetime! They are a wonderful group of people. Very honest and open about every situation. Can't go wrong with this group. The adoption coordinators are very caring and supportive of adoptive families, along with birthfamilies. Both of our birthfamilies have been very pleased with the experience they had with working with the people from Lifetime. I pray that God continues to use Lifetime Adoption for his glory.
We were told the same thing. Lifetime was always very honest with us. That's why you have attorneys. From my experiences with them, I never found them to be dishonest or misleading in anyway.
We can't say enough about Lifetime and Mardie Caldwell. We are so blessed with our children, and we would never have become parents without Lifetime! You will not find a more experienced, helpful, and honest group of people.
I had to give my child to adoption because I was 19, with no family, and was already struggling. I picked one adoption agency in Ohio, a catholic adoption agency, but I did not feel they were all too great... They had lied to me about a few things already and went behind my back. So, without any help I put in my head what i wanted for my kid and did research of agencies online, and did read some bad reviews about Lifetime, but decided to not listen to WHAT OTHERS SAY (usually you need to do research yourself and talk to the company, etc. yourself because there are many FALSE things said about others and a lot of gossip spread and you will never know until YOU do the things yourself and talk to the places yourself, etc - this relates to people even, not just places, rumors are spread everyday about people.... and yes you may like some place but another person may not because maybe they wanted MORE then what the agency offered but they were a TRUE RESPECTED agency AKA Money for their adoption, etc....), and I was only 17 years old. I wanted my baby boy by the beach, where it was beautiful, because one he would have part of me (I LOVE the beach) and for two, its beautiful!!!!! When I read the one families profile (AND BELIEVE ME I READ ALOT OF FAMILIES PROFILES EVERYDAY I GOT HOME FROM SCHOOL) I immediately knew they were the one I wanted. I also based my pick on if they had kids or not. To me, I wanted the family to have no kids, because if they didn't have kids, I guess I felt that I would not be giving them as great of a gift (IN MY OPINION) because if they had kids already, they already experienced being parents and if they did not have kids, then they had not yet and that meant, they truly would want to experience it more.
Lifetime is AMAZING. And, true to their word. ADOPTION IS VERY HARD, But many people are wanting kids of their own and can not have any kids. Adoption had free over the phone and online counseling, when I needed it, and they were very prompt. I went to college after, and now with a good job, plan to donate money and necessities they need.
THINK BIRTHMOM'S : GOD IS WATCHING..... GIVE A LIFE TO SOMEONE WHO IS PATIENTLY WAITING ON THAT ONE PHONE CALL TO HEAR, "SO AND SO, YOU HAVE A BABY BOY/GIRL ON THE WAY FROM AN AMAZING BIRTH MOTHER."
I live in Ohio, and the birth parents FLEW here and spent 3 WHOLE WEEKS HERE!!!! And were with me through the WHOLE BIRTHING PROCESS!!!!!!!!!! Lifetime does an amazing thing, I TRULY WOULD SAY THEY GO OUT OF THEIR WAY ON HELPING YOU AND EMPLOY THE BEST STAFF!!!!!! The adoptive parents always send me pictures in the mail, they always give me phone calls from time to time and they are just all out amazing.
ADOPTION IS NOT A BAD THING, AND THIS AGENCY ONCE AGAIN IS AMAZING!!!!!!! For all birth mom;s out there, days going to school pregnant WERE hard "OH YOUR GIVING YOUR KID UP???? WOW THATS YOUR OWN BLOOD" , ETC. I Heard many hurtful things. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT????? THEY WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND!!! YOUR GIVING A GIFT TO SOMEONE WHO PAID MONEY JUST TO RAISE YOUR KID, JUST TO HAVE A FAMILY BECAUSE THEY CANT BECAUSE OF ONE REASON OR ANOTHER!!! DONT LISTEN TO WHAT OTHERS SAY =) IT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING. I am now out of college, getting married, and know my kid is in an amazing life, so I have done much better in life, most thanks to LIFETIME!!!!! God truly sent them to me. And I never did take part in scholarships, but they do have those for birth parents!!!! And sheltering (not sure either the details, I never needed.....) OH AND I ALMOST FORGOT =)
We went to a small rural town in Loudonville OHIO to eat. WHAT A COINCIDENCE... The adoptive mom had come down already, me and my pregnant self were there and my boyfriend eating at a small place there and Lo and Behold!!! RIGHT BEHIND ME IN THAT SMALL TOWN IN that small restaraunt ANOTHER adoptive mom with her son were there eating SHE HAD USED LIFETIME ADOPTIONS!!!!!! And yes, thats what made my decison mostly from their on. IT WAS THE WEIRDEST COINCIDENCE!!!!!!! And yes, I did shed a few tears =) Lifetime, I cant thank you enough.
We used Lifetime and they are fabulous! They literally walked us through each step and are just the sweetest bunch of women you could ask for! They were so excited for us when our birthmom picked us and it was extra-special to be able to share the experience with them, through our ups and downs for the match.
Adoption is a journey, I think I heard them say that a thousand times. And it is so true. Like every journey we pursue in life, things are rarely smooth, without bumps -- especially when emotions are involved. (Okay, my husband says especially when WOMEN'S emotions are involved. LOL I saw him cry a few tears too!) But Lifetime was great!
More importantly, Lifetime treated our birthmom SO well. They took care of her, even though she was a bit of a tough cookie. She didn't want a lot of hand holding but Lifetime still was able to care for her on her terms. That was important to us. In fact, our birthmom actually raved about her coordinator to US, and said that she hoped that we got to work with Diane too because she was so great.
If you are lucky enough to be accepted by Lifetime, thank the Lord and then say YES! They will help you find your baby. They helped us, when other agencies said we were too old for a baby and "not marketable". Lifetime had faith in us, so we placed our faith in them. And by the grace of God, our baby is home.
God bless you if you are reading this. I pray that God blesses you as he has blessed us.
Lifetime was an excellent experience for us! We brought our beautiful baby home within one month of our home-study completion and within four-months of starting the process. We worked well with Lifetime by staying in touch regularly. The staff was open to questions, suggestions and always willing to give their opinions on additional outreach ideas that we came up with. There were times when I wondered what they were doing in the background, but, having experienced a last-minute situation with our newborn, I now know that they really are working hard on a daily basis, with some very emotional, difficult circumstances. Our birthmother and birthfather had been thoroughly screened, legally debriefed and were 100% prepared for our adoption. I will note that the more open you are to your preferences, the easier Lifetime can work with you. If you are very closed on your preferences, you will certainly be delayed. We decided to be much more open than we had originally thought we would be and we wound up with a perfectly healthy baby who is absolutely perfect in every way and more adorable than we could ever have imagined! Lifetime has good relationships with home-study agencies, lawyers and other resources. They know this business and will not mislead you. Do take advantage of their monthly teleconferences--they are packed with information and resources that will help during the waiting period. I have already recommended them to friends and can wholeheartedly recommend them to people reading this review. By the way--I did read some of the negative reviews posted on this site before and during our time with Lifetime. They scared me at the time. I hope this provides another perspective to any other people out there "worrying" about adopting their perfect baby--Lifetime will come through!
Lifetime Adoption is the best if you want to adopt here in the U.S. We called local and nationwide adoption agencies but kept coming back to Lifetime. They are more family oriented which is what you need (and what we wanted!) when adopting. Other agencies seemed to be more business-oriented (and kind of cold even). Lifetime's staff is always warm and caring, understanding and best of all, available!
It was important to us to have people who knew us and knew the process, especially when we realized that birthmothers must call around like we did, and probably want to connect with someone caring as well.
Lifetime told us what to do every step of the way. They also told us what they were doing. And it works. Our birthmother chose us because of something she saw in our profile. We all felt an instant connection, like old friends.
(I am being be intentionally vague because I fear Lifetime may take legal action against me if they can determine my identity)
The reason we went with a facilitator, and Lifetime in particular, is because they claim to carefully screen birth mothers and oversee and advise with the adoption process. In my experience they do a very poor job with both.
We were involved with only 2 birth mothers during our 2 year contract. One was a scammer and the other used adoption only as a bargaining chip in order to reconcile with her estranged husband. In both cases, a little internet research on my part provided the clues that exposed their intent. Lifetime had no idea, and told us time and again they "didn't see any red flags" and "things are going unusually well". I showed them what I had found (apparently they don't know how to Google) and they were surprised someone like me could even find such information! But on their advice, and against our own better judgement, we stayed with both birth mothers through their pregnancies. Of course, both "changed their minds". They never had any intention of placing their babies for adoption. That wasn't really much of a surprise to me but was devastating to my spouse. Lifetime provided no help after each reclaim, unless you count being instructed to read a page or two on their website on the subject of reclaims "help".
Lifetime even punishes adoptive parents who perform the due diligence they do not. To break off a match is permitted, but they put a "black mark" in your file and after a certain number of them (we don't know how many - they wouldn't say) they'll terminate your contract, regardless of any evidence you've provided that the birth mother has no intention of following through on her end.
Also, during each match, there were a number of times we asked them questions that they couldn't (or wouldn't) answer. We relied on our local agency to guide us through the complex maze that is an independent adoption. Near the end of one match, I was explaining to them the adoption laws in the birth mother's state.
When waiting to be matched, you have monthly check-ins with one of the coordinators. They do this so you feel involved, but most times the coordinator was surprised and unprepared when we called in at our appointed time.
They also have monthly teleconferences for waiting families. In my opinion they are generally useless, with topics such as "Are you ready to adopt?" (we wouldn't be here if we weren't!), "Hear about our exciting outreach at a pregnancy center" (I don't care how you work, just THAT you work), "8 tips for staying healthy while adopting" (oh, please), "so-and-so's adoption story through Lifetime" (interesting but irrelevant), or my personal favorite "How to cope with POST-adoption depression" (if only I could experience that!). They should take these efforts and put them into doing a better job finding and screening birth mothers or learning about adoption law in other states.
For those of you who are interested in Lifetime but are having a hard time finding information not provided by Lifetime itself, ask yourself why that is. Why is it that most adoption-related forums have a strict policy against discussing for-profit facilitators? Why are there so few reviews available online? Easy - they threaten those sites with legal action.
Our experience with Lifetime was a complete waste of precious time and tens of thousands of dollars. Now we are using another (not-for-profit) agency; the ultimate irony being that we worked with them during one of our matches with Lifetime...
I worked with this facilitator in '03. I found them to be unprofessional at best. We were matched with a birthmother in ******. Lifetime never mentioned the fact they facilitators were not legal in that state. The lawyer they recommended didn't mention it either, until we were being discharged from the hospital with our baby and we had to sign ICPC documents. I notice that the form stated we found our son's birthmother by independent networking. I reminded our lawyer that we were matched through Lifetime and she told me that facilitators weren't legal in that state. If I didn't sign the form, knowing that it was false, we couldn't have left the hospital or the state with the baby. I was BEYOND pissed off. I talked to our son's birthmother and asked her what her feelings were on the subject. She wasn't very happy about it either but we'd already bonded and she was certain that we were the family she wanted. I am pissed off that Lifetime put me in a position where I felt forced to lie.
In the end it worked out okay. Our son just celebrated his fifth birthday and we have an amazing open adoption. Lifetime did match us with the child of our dreams but they were not honest with us. We were too scared to confront them because we were afraid that it would jeopardize our adoption. Honestly, what could they say? Sorry wouldn't cut it. I know for a fact they are still doing adoptions in that state because of the situations they have listed on their website.
Tisk! Tisk! Shame on Lifetime for not being honest.
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Reviews
WONDERFUL Experiences!
We've adopted two precious children through Lifetime! They are a wonderful group of people. Very honest and open about every situation. Can't go wrong with this group. The adoption coordinators are very caring and supportive of adoptive families, along with birthfamilies. Both of our birthfamilies have been very pleased with the experience they had with working with the people from Lifetime. I pray that God continues to use Lifetime Adoption for his glory.
Agree!
We were told the same thing. Lifetime was always very honest with us. That's why you have attorneys. From my experiences with them, I never found them to be dishonest or misleading in anyway.
Best there is!
We can't say enough about Lifetime and Mardie Caldwell. We are so blessed with our children, and we would never have become parents without Lifetime! You will not find a more experienced, helpful, and honest group of people.
PLEASE USE THEM : ME AS A BIRTHMOM EXPERIENCE
I had to give my child to adoption because I was 19, with no family, and was already struggling. I picked one adoption agency in Ohio, a catholic adoption agency, but I did not feel they were all too great... They had lied to me about a few things already and went behind my back. So, without any help I put in my head what i wanted for my kid and did research of agencies online, and did read some bad reviews about Lifetime, but decided to not listen to WHAT OTHERS SAY (usually you need to do research yourself and talk to the company, etc. yourself because there are many FALSE things said about others and a lot of gossip spread and you will never know until YOU do the things yourself and talk to the places yourself, etc - this relates to people even, not just places, rumors are spread everyday about people.... and yes you may like some place but another person may not because maybe they wanted MORE then what the agency offered but they were a TRUE RESPECTED agency AKA Money for their adoption, etc....), and I was only 17 years old. I wanted my baby boy by the beach, where it was beautiful, because one he would have part of me (I LOVE the beach) and for two, its beautiful!!!!! When I read the one families profile (AND BELIEVE ME I READ ALOT OF FAMILIES PROFILES EVERYDAY I GOT HOME FROM SCHOOL) I immediately knew they were the one I wanted. I also based my pick on if they had kids or not. To me, I wanted the family to have no kids, because if they didn't have kids, I guess I felt that I would not be giving them as great of a gift (IN MY OPINION) because if they had kids already, they already experienced being parents and if they did not have kids, then they had not yet and that meant, they truly would want to experience it more.
Lifetime is AMAZING. And, true to their word. ADOPTION IS VERY HARD, But many people are wanting kids of their own and can not have any kids. Adoption had free over the phone and online counseling, when I needed it, and they were very prompt. I went to college after, and now with a good job, plan to donate money and necessities they need.
THINK BIRTHMOM'S : GOD IS WATCHING..... GIVE A LIFE TO SOMEONE WHO IS PATIENTLY WAITING ON THAT ONE PHONE CALL TO HEAR, "SO AND SO, YOU HAVE A BABY BOY/GIRL ON THE WAY FROM AN AMAZING BIRTH MOTHER."
I live in Ohio, and the birth parents FLEW here and spent 3 WHOLE WEEKS HERE!!!! And were with me through the WHOLE BIRTHING PROCESS!!!!!!!!!! Lifetime does an amazing thing, I TRULY WOULD SAY THEY GO OUT OF THEIR WAY ON HELPING YOU AND EMPLOY THE BEST STAFF!!!!!! The adoptive parents always send me pictures in the mail, they always give me phone calls from time to time and they are just all out amazing.
ADOPTION IS NOT A BAD THING, AND THIS AGENCY ONCE AGAIN IS AMAZING!!!!!!! For all birth mom;s out there, days going to school pregnant WERE hard "OH YOUR GIVING YOUR KID UP???? WOW THATS YOUR OWN BLOOD" , ETC. I Heard many hurtful things. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT????? THEY WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND!!! YOUR GIVING A GIFT TO SOMEONE WHO PAID MONEY JUST TO RAISE YOUR KID, JUST TO HAVE A FAMILY BECAUSE THEY CANT BECAUSE OF ONE REASON OR ANOTHER!!! DONT LISTEN TO WHAT OTHERS SAY =) IT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING. I am now out of college, getting married, and know my kid is in an amazing life, so I have done much better in life, most thanks to LIFETIME!!!!! God truly sent them to me. And I never did take part in scholarships, but they do have those for birth parents!!!! And sheltering (not sure either the details, I never needed.....) OH AND I ALMOST FORGOT =)
We went to a small rural town in Loudonville OHIO to eat. WHAT A COINCIDENCE... The adoptive mom had come down already, me and my pregnant self were there and my boyfriend eating at a small place there and Lo and Behold!!! RIGHT BEHIND ME IN THAT SMALL TOWN IN that small restaraunt ANOTHER adoptive mom with her son were there eating SHE HAD USED LIFETIME ADOPTIONS!!!!!! And yes, thats what made my decison mostly from their on. IT WAS THE WEIRDEST COINCIDENCE!!!!!!! And yes, I did shed a few tears =) Lifetime, I cant thank you enough.
Excellent in EVERY WAY!
We used Lifetime and they are fabulous! They literally walked us through each step and are just the sweetest bunch of women you could ask for! They were so excited for us when our birthmom picked us and it was extra-special to be able to share the experience with them, through our ups and downs for the match.
Adoption is a journey, I think I heard them say that a thousand times. And it is so true. Like every journey we pursue in life, things are rarely smooth, without bumps -- especially when emotions are involved. (Okay, my husband says especially when WOMEN'S emotions are involved. LOL I saw him cry a few tears too!) But Lifetime was great!
More importantly, Lifetime treated our birthmom SO well. They took care of her, even though she was a bit of a tough cookie. She didn't want a lot of hand holding but Lifetime still was able to care for her on her terms. That was important to us. In fact, our birthmom actually raved about her coordinator to US, and said that she hoped that we got to work with Diane too because she was so great.
If you are lucky enough to be accepted by Lifetime, thank the Lord and then say YES! They will help you find your baby. They helped us, when other agencies said we were too old for a baby and "not marketable". Lifetime had faith in us, so we placed our faith in them. And by the grace of God, our baby is home.
God bless you if you are reading this. I pray that God blesses you as he has blessed us.
Excellent Experience!
Lifetime was an excellent experience for us! We brought our beautiful baby home within one month of our home-study completion and within four-months of starting the process. We worked well with Lifetime by staying in touch regularly. The staff was open to questions, suggestions and always willing to give their opinions on additional outreach ideas that we came up with. There were times when I wondered what they were doing in the background, but, having experienced a last-minute situation with our newborn, I now know that they really are working hard on a daily basis, with some very emotional, difficult circumstances. Our birthmother and birthfather had been thoroughly screened, legally debriefed and were 100% prepared for our adoption. I will note that the more open you are to your preferences, the easier Lifetime can work with you. If you are very closed on your preferences, you will certainly be delayed. We decided to be much more open than we had originally thought we would be and we wound up with a perfectly healthy baby who is absolutely perfect in every way and more adorable than we could ever have imagined! Lifetime has good relationships with home-study agencies, lawyers and other resources. They know this business and will not mislead you. Do take advantage of their monthly teleconferences--they are packed with information and resources that will help during the waiting period. I have already recommended them to friends and can wholeheartedly recommend them to people reading this review. By the way--I did read some of the negative reviews posted on this site before and during our time with Lifetime. They scared me at the time. I hope this provides another perspective to any other people out there "worrying" about adopting their perfect baby--Lifetime will come through!
Lifetime Adoption is Awesome!
Lifetime Adoption is the best if you want to adopt here in the U.S. We called local and nationwide adoption agencies but kept coming back to Lifetime. They are more family oriented which is what you need (and what we wanted!) when adopting. Other agencies seemed to be more business-oriented (and kind of cold even). Lifetime's staff is always warm and caring, understanding and best of all, available!
It was important to us to have people who knew us and knew the process, especially when we realized that birthmothers must call around like we did, and probably want to connect with someone caring as well.
Lifetime told us what to do every step of the way. They also told us what they were doing. And it works. Our birthmother chose us because of something she saw in our profile. We all felt an instant connection, like old friends.
The bottom line is that Lifetime Adoption works!
Precious time and money lost
(I am being be intentionally vague because I fear Lifetime may take legal action against me if they can determine my identity)
The reason we went with a facilitator, and Lifetime in particular, is because they claim to carefully screen birth mothers and oversee and advise with the adoption process. In my experience they do a very poor job with both.
We were involved with only 2 birth mothers during our 2 year contract. One was a scammer and the other used adoption only as a bargaining chip in order to reconcile with her estranged husband. In both cases, a little internet research on my part provided the clues that exposed their intent. Lifetime had no idea, and told us time and again they "didn't see any red flags" and "things are going unusually well". I showed them what I had found (apparently they don't know how to Google) and they were surprised someone like me could even find such information! But on their advice, and against our own better judgement, we stayed with both birth mothers through their pregnancies. Of course, both "changed their minds". They never had any intention of placing their babies for adoption. That wasn't really much of a surprise to me but was devastating to my spouse. Lifetime provided no help after each reclaim, unless you count being instructed to read a page or two on their website on the subject of reclaims "help".
Lifetime even punishes adoptive parents who perform the due diligence they do not. To break off a match is permitted, but they put a "black mark" in your file and after a certain number of them (we don't know how many - they wouldn't say) they'll terminate your contract, regardless of any evidence you've provided that the birth mother has no intention of following through on her end.
Also, during each match, there were a number of times we asked them questions that they couldn't (or wouldn't) answer. We relied on our local agency to guide us through the complex maze that is an independent adoption. Near the end of one match, I was explaining to them the adoption laws in the birth mother's state.
When waiting to be matched, you have monthly check-ins with one of the coordinators. They do this so you feel involved, but most times the coordinator was surprised and unprepared when we called in at our appointed time.
They also have monthly teleconferences for waiting families. In my opinion they are generally useless, with topics such as "Are you ready to adopt?" (we wouldn't be here if we weren't!), "Hear about our exciting outreach at a pregnancy center" (I don't care how you work, just THAT you work), "8 tips for staying healthy while adopting" (oh, please), "so-and-so's adoption story through Lifetime" (interesting but irrelevant), or my personal favorite "How to cope with POST-adoption depression" (if only I could experience that!). They should take these efforts and put them into doing a better job finding and screening birth mothers or learning about adoption law in other states.
For those of you who are interested in Lifetime but are having a hard time finding information not provided by Lifetime itself, ask yourself why that is. Why is it that most adoption-related forums have a strict policy against discussing for-profit facilitators? Why are there so few reviews available online? Easy - they threaten those sites with legal action.
Our experience with Lifetime was a complete waste of precious time and tens of thousands of dollars. Now we are using another (not-for-profit) agency; the ultimate irony being that we worked with them during one of our matches with Lifetime...
I worked with this
I worked with this facilitator in '03. I found them to be unprofessional at best. We were matched with a birthmother in ******. Lifetime never mentioned the fact they facilitators were not legal in that state. The lawyer they recommended didn't mention it either, until we were being discharged from the hospital with our baby and we had to sign ICPC documents. I notice that the form stated we found our son's birthmother by independent networking. I reminded our lawyer that we were matched through Lifetime and she told me that facilitators weren't legal in that state. If I didn't sign the form, knowing that it was false, we couldn't have left the hospital or the state with the baby. I was BEYOND pissed off. I talked to our son's birthmother and asked her what her feelings were on the subject. She wasn't very happy about it either but we'd already bonded and she was certain that we were the family she wanted. I am pissed off that Lifetime put me in a position where I felt forced to lie.
In the end it worked out okay. Our son just celebrated his fifth birthday and we have an amazing open adoption. Lifetime did match us with the child of our dreams but they were not honest with us. We were too scared to confront them because we were afraid that it would jeopardize our adoption. Honestly, what could they say? Sorry wouldn't cut it. I know for a fact they are still doing adoptions in that state because of the situations they have listed on their website.
Tisk! Tisk! Shame on Lifetime for not being honest.