We adopted twice through WHFC's program in eastern europe. Their staff was empathetic, concerned and supportive though the entire process. We are extremely grateful for their support.
Going into adoption we felt overwhelmed at the huge task before us, but Nightlight turned the whole process into a huge blessing. They were with us at every step, very knowledeable, and genuinely caring. They helped make our dream of a family a reality. Thanks so much for your hard and competent work! We'll never forget you.
email me at piankmomma@gmail.com. There's also a facebook group, though CHI is very unhappy we have it because we can communicate with each other about what's going on and they can't control it. It's called CHI Ethiopia Families, the families on there many of them have very bad stories of CHI (though a few did not).
Hi, i'd really like to hear more of your story. W are starting to get a bad feeling about this a well. When did you start your process? How long did you wait?
Thank you
Cc
We had a really wonderful experience with Adoptions from the Heart's Gladwynne and Allentown, PA, and Cherry Hill, NJ, offices. AFTH started out as just our home study agency, as we were originally planning to do an international adoption with an agency located out of state. However, we eventually decided to switch to a domestic adoption and at that point we moved our entire process to AFTH. Our adoption of our son was finalized in October, 2011.
We had some bumps in the road -- mainly, before our son came to us we had to return a newborn who had been placed with us a week earlier because the birth mother changed her mind. That was extremely difficult, but we felt we had been very well prepared for the possibility by AFTH and we felt well supported through the whole process.
Our experience has been that the AFTH staff really cares about us, our child, and our child's birth mother, and that staff members at various offices work together extremely well to support everyone involved. We feel very good about the way his birth mother (a teenager) was treated throughout the process, and that is part of what made our adoption such an amazing and positive experience. AFTH has done a wonderful job from start to finish. I'd recommend them to anyone.
Recently while assisting my daughter researching adoption companies, I got a very nice review of Journeys of the Heart by an out of state family. My daughter and husband, after I gave them the feedback, contacted the agency by email and received the general information email back. Since they already were working with another company in their state and have not been impressed, they were looking to either add or even just change companies. Since they both had come from the area of Journey's states and have family there, they felt like it was 'home' and were open to visiting and an open adoption. Journey's response to the email questions was basically poor. Mainly that they would have to not be with another agency etc. however did they even try and find out the situation - just negative. After clarification by my daughter through another email, the additional response was qualified that since they were out of state and their % chance of a birth mothers selecting them (again with not even knowing about the inquiring parents) went on to tell them that they now require that out of state adoptive parents to take any and all kids (ie. drug, mental conditions, medical conditions gender and well as ethnicity) and repeated it three times in the letter. They did not take a personal note and try and contact by phone (which my daughter was trying to set up) but again just sent an email. My daughter and her husband were very open to taking any child however that just became a moot point. The family supported them in not bothering to continue trying with this company because they were so negative and felt Journey's was so busy qualifying their demands that they did not even take the opportunity to make a personal phone call or learn more about the sitatution. They were just trying to 'get rid of them'. I could not support them more in not bothering to contact this agency again and hope that everyone that is out of state not bother. Seems to me it would be easier to just discontinue your out of state program rather than to negatively communicate to adoptive parents. Journey's makes themselves look very unprofessional by having the people who are their initial contacts relate so poorly to new "customers" on such a sensitive topic .
When I first began the process to adopt my daughter, Adoption and Beyond was recommended to me by a friend. I have been grateful ever since! Adoption and Beyond provides step-by-step guidance, clearly written instructions for each part of the process, fabulous training that is enjoyable, challenging, & realistic, Christ-centered service & advice, and genuine compassion & caring. My home study process went smoothly and quickly, and I felt well prepared for the realities of an adopted child. After my daughter came home, Adoption and Beyond conducted my Post Placement Visits--which just felt like showing off my new daughter to an old friend!
I have since completed a 2nd home study with Adoption and Beyond. My adoption journey this time around has taken many unexpected detours and encountered numerous delays. For a variety of reasons, I have worked with two foster care agencies, a private adoption agency that works with the foster care system, an international adoption agency, and, of course, Adoption and Beyond. Through it all, Steffany and Caroline and the others at Adoption and Beyond are the ones I turn to when I need advice, encouragement, a sounding board, a shoulder to cry on, or Christian council. They are professional, reasonably-priced, and competent but SO much more important to me, they are completely trustworthy. One of the reasons I feel capable of bringing home a slightly older child this time around is because I know I will have Adoption and Beyond as a resource to help me through the tough stuff. I would wholeheartedly recommend Steffany and Adoption and Beyond to anyone!
Heartsent Adoptions out of Orinda California is an amazing agency! They truly are an agency with a heart! They care about the children and the adopting families before, during and for years after the process. They do all they can to help you. They bend over backwards and they do alot of the legwork for you. They have an amazing reputation with the orphanages in Taiwan and make sure all your needs are cared for while you are there! They do all they can to get you information on your child during the wait. They also well prepare you for your trip over. We have used them for 2 separate adoptions from Taiwan and could not be happier. I can't even imagine ever using another agency! It is rare in this day and age to find a place that truly cares and will do whatever they can to make things as easy for you as they can. You can trust when you get to the country that you will have everything you need to complete the process in Taiwan. I will forever be grateful to Heartsent Adoptions for changing our lives for eternity! :)
Tami Sisemore
adoptions 2008 and 2010
It's such a joy to give an outstanding review to Sarah Jensen Elhoff & the Adoption Center of San Diego! Sarah is knowledgeable, experienced, trust-worthy, helpful, patient, supportive, loving and caring to all parties involved in the adoption process. Sarah is ever present through each stage of the adoption process which is so helpful! I highly recommend Sarah to adoptive parents and birthmoms who are interested in adoption.
Larry was our attorney in 2007. He was very patient with our endless questions. He went out of his way to help us many, many times. He was ethical, and most of all, he is a very good attorney. I would hire him again.
My initial contact was Kristi in Poulsbo and I had no problems working with her at all. Our daughter's birthmother was in Nevada so it was Dee who handled all of the paperwork there, got us through ICPC and handled all of the post placement stuff so we could finalize. We never met Dee as she is at the Reno office and we were in Las Vegas. The social worker who worked with our birth mother was Ruth. She was also great. This child was the second time our birthmother used ACD to place a child so I have to believe she felt well taken care of if she went back to them a second time. We certainly felt that ACD did all they could to help us feel our adoption experience was a positive one.
I'm writing because I have a concern about some of the posts here. I think that some people (like tchirocat) who posted positive reviews worked with Dee Rodriguez who I believe is in A Child's Dream's Nevada office. Most of us who have written negative reviews worked with the Poulsbo, WA office. Can you confirm that you worked primarily with the Nevada office? It would be helpful for people to know that, and it might help to clear up the conflicting nature of the reviews posted. (it might be that the Nevada office is good, while many of us believe the WA office should be avoided). Because the heading of this page reads that the office is located in Poulsbo, that office may be receiving kudos earned by the Nevada office rather than itself. Likewise, my very negative experience with Anna Marie and the Poulsbo office should not necessarily be a concern to those considering the Nevada office.
I previously wrote a review on 5/18/11 entitled: Positve Experience...thanks ACD!
Well, as promised, I am back to give them the fifth star. We had some trouble with our post placement agency in our home state and ACD did everything to work with us in order to meet all of our post placement requirements. Our agency here caused us and ACD a lot of headaches. When our last post placement visit was done it took our post placement agency so long to get the paperwork to us and we wanted to finalize in December 2011. When ACD received the paperwork they got right on it and gave us an incredibly fast turn around so that our attorney could try to file in time for a December finalization. Despite the efforts of ACD we didn't finalize until January. The only reason for the hold up was the difficulties with our post placement agency. We thank ACD (especially Dee) for working on our case so quickly and giving it a terrific effort.
The first link goes to a myspace page and the adoption is through LDS Family Services not the Adoption Center of Choice. The other links don't go to anything backing up this review.
We adopted through the Ethiopia program with Children's Hope International, our adoption was completed December 2011. At first we were very pleased with CHI it was not until after we received our referral we became very unhappy. Our contact person became very vague in answering our questions (if answering them at all) and became very hard to get ahold of. Kind of fishy that they were very nice and quick and thorough in answering questions before we turned in our dossier but after (when we were locked in) they were very hard to communicate with. It was after court we became aware of an essential piece of information about our son's history that we really started losing trust in them. They knew this piece of information about his history and kept it out of our referral.
We became good friends with many other families in the process, though I can only review my experience their stories would shock and scare you. They were very slow in answering our questions and rarely answered them directly. In the 5 months between the two trips they were not willing to give us any updates on our son. They finally gave me one weight update after I pushed for it for 3 weeks. When additional info was requested by the US embassy they were slow in getting it.
I know choosing an agency for Ethiopia is hard right now. Many are not accepting new applications and waiting lists are getting very long. Ask specific questions about what happens between the two trips- what kind of updates do you get. Also ask about the embassy process. This is becoming a huge hold up for most families. Don't believe any agency that tells you it will be 6-8 weeks between the two trips. From my friends we all waited 4-5 months.
We worked with Adoptions From The Heart for a domestic adoption in 2010. We found them to be extremely professional and supportive. We worked mostly with Ashley K as our social worker in the Wynnewood office and we also worked with Michaelina. We can not say enough positive things about our experience with both of these phenomenal social workers and the staff at AFTH. They made this process comfortable and not scary or intimidating at all. They walked us through the process and all types of situations we could face and how they would be handled so we would be prepared for anything and everything. We always felt confident with them and supported by them. We started the process at the very end of April 2010, went through the paperwork and homestudy process and then entered the program officially in August. We brought home our baby girl in October 2010, so we were fortunate to not have a long wait at all. Ashley helped us with every question we had and she was there for guidance when we needed it. She answered our calls and emails promptly and thoroughly. The classes offered by AFTH were very informative and allowed us to connect with other adopting parents who could relate to what we were going through. We will be forever grateful to AFTH for creating our family, and we hope to use them again in the future.
I'm sorry that you feel this way. I will continue to support BBAS, their entire staff and politely disagree with what you have to say about them being unethical, uncaring and not trustworthy. I hope that soon you can reach your point of indifference.
Those who PROFIT in the international adoption market ARE pimps. I'm calling it as I see it and as I know it. Not judging - truth telling. We've been down long enough to have heard thtat tune before about the coordinators - how HARD WORKING, how MUCH THEY CARE for the children! How much was he making per placement? if he cared so much about "the children" why wasn't he working to make sure the remain in Ukraine?
Feel free to judge us - that why our website is out there. No need to rehash what has happened - that is why every. single. detail. is out for those to read about our and OTHERS experiences with Denise Lynn Harding-Hubbard.
This agency has never been, nor will they ever be, ethical, caring, trusting or above-board.
There's no need to forgive them. We're just hoping towards indifference.
I really do not appreciate you calling the coordinator in Ukraine a "child pimp". You have no idea the effort, time and care he puts into his work and how much he really cares for the children there. You are very bold to call names and judge someone whom you have never even met.
I am very familiar with your website and have read about your experiences with BBAS. However, I still do not know what it feels like to have a child die and I was not there, so I cannot judge you or the things you say regarding the agency's response to you. Though you will surely never be able to comepletely move past it, my hope and prayer for you is that you can find it in your heart to forgive the agency and those people you feel have harmed you. It seems to me that it would be a horrible life to live constantly walking around still with so much anger, resentment and hatred in your heart for others. I'm very sorry that you have been through so much and can't imagine how you feel. I hope that you can eventually stop spending so much time and effort focused on what has happened, how you have been wronged and can find it in your heart to forgive.
We adopted twice through WHFC's program in eastern europe. Their staff was empathetic, concerned and supportive though the entire process. We are extremely grateful for their support.
we adopted twice and had a wonderful experience both times.
Going into adoption we felt overwhelmed at the huge task before us, but Nightlight turned the whole process into a huge blessing. They were with us at every step, very knowledeable, and genuinely caring. They helped make our dream of a family a reality. Thanks so much for your hard and competent work! We'll never forget you.
email me at piankmomma@gmail.com. There's also a facebook group, though CHI is very unhappy we have it because we can communicate with each other about what's going on and they can't control it. It's called CHI Ethiopia Families, the families on there many of them have very bad stories of CHI (though a few did not).
Hi, i'd really like to hear more of your story. W are starting to get a bad feeling about this a well. When did you start your process? How long did you wait?
Thank you
Cc
We had a really wonderful experience with Adoptions from the Heart's Gladwynne and Allentown, PA, and Cherry Hill, NJ, offices. AFTH started out as just our home study agency, as we were originally planning to do an international adoption with an agency located out of state. However, we eventually decided to switch to a domestic adoption and at that point we moved our entire process to AFTH. Our adoption of our son was finalized in October, 2011.
We had some bumps in the road -- mainly, before our son came to us we had to return a newborn who had been placed with us a week earlier because the birth mother changed her mind. That was extremely difficult, but we felt we had been very well prepared for the possibility by AFTH and we felt well supported through the whole process.
Our experience has been that the AFTH staff really cares about us, our child, and our child's birth mother, and that staff members at various offices work together extremely well to support everyone involved. We feel very good about the way his birth mother (a teenager) was treated throughout the process, and that is part of what made our adoption such an amazing and positive experience. AFTH has done a wonderful job from start to finish. I'd recommend them to anyone.
Recently while assisting my daughter researching adoption companies, I got a very nice review of Journeys of the Heart by an out of state family. My daughter and husband, after I gave them the feedback, contacted the agency by email and received the general information email back. Since they already were working with another company in their state and have not been impressed, they were looking to either add or even just change companies. Since they both had come from the area of Journey's states and have family there, they felt like it was 'home' and were open to visiting and an open adoption. Journey's response to the email questions was basically poor. Mainly that they would have to not be with another agency etc. however did they even try and find out the situation - just negative. After clarification by my daughter through another email, the additional response was qualified that since they were out of state and their % chance of a birth mothers selecting them (again with not even knowing about the inquiring parents) went on to tell them that they now require that out of state adoptive parents to take any and all kids (ie. drug, mental conditions, medical conditions gender and well as ethnicity) and repeated it three times in the letter. They did not take a personal note and try and contact by phone (which my daughter was trying to set up) but again just sent an email. My daughter and her husband were very open to taking any child however that just became a moot point. The family supported them in not bothering to continue trying with this company because they were so negative and felt Journey's was so busy qualifying their demands that they did not even take the opportunity to make a personal phone call or learn more about the sitatution. They were just trying to 'get rid of them'. I could not support them more in not bothering to contact this agency again and hope that everyone that is out of state not bother. Seems to me it would be easier to just discontinue your out of state program rather than to negatively communicate to adoptive parents. Journey's makes themselves look very unprofessional by having the people who are their initial contacts relate so poorly to new "customers" on such a sensitive topic .
When I first began the process to adopt my daughter, Adoption and Beyond was recommended to me by a friend. I have been grateful ever since! Adoption and Beyond provides step-by-step guidance, clearly written instructions for each part of the process, fabulous training that is enjoyable, challenging, & realistic, Christ-centered service & advice, and genuine compassion & caring. My home study process went smoothly and quickly, and I felt well prepared for the realities of an adopted child. After my daughter came home, Adoption and Beyond conducted my Post Placement Visits--which just felt like showing off my new daughter to an old friend!
I have since completed a 2nd home study with Adoption and Beyond. My adoption journey this time around has taken many unexpected detours and encountered numerous delays. For a variety of reasons, I have worked with two foster care agencies, a private adoption agency that works with the foster care system, an international adoption agency, and, of course, Adoption and Beyond. Through it all, Steffany and Caroline and the others at Adoption and Beyond are the ones I turn to when I need advice, encouragement, a sounding board, a shoulder to cry on, or Christian council. They are professional, reasonably-priced, and competent but SO much more important to me, they are completely trustworthy. One of the reasons I feel capable of bringing home a slightly older child this time around is because I know I will have Adoption and Beyond as a resource to help me through the tough stuff. I would wholeheartedly recommend Steffany and Adoption and Beyond to anyone!
Heartsent Adoptions out of Orinda California is an amazing agency! They truly are an agency with a heart! They care about the children and the adopting families before, during and for years after the process. They do all they can to help you. They bend over backwards and they do alot of the legwork for you. They have an amazing reputation with the orphanages in Taiwan and make sure all your needs are cared for while you are there! They do all they can to get you information on your child during the wait. They also well prepare you for your trip over. We have used them for 2 separate adoptions from Taiwan and could not be happier. I can't even imagine ever using another agency! It is rare in this day and age to find a place that truly cares and will do whatever they can to make things as easy for you as they can. You can trust when you get to the country that you will have everything you need to complete the process in Taiwan. I will forever be grateful to Heartsent Adoptions for changing our lives for eternity! :)
Tami Sisemore
adoptions 2008 and 2010
It's such a joy to give an outstanding review to Sarah Jensen Elhoff & the Adoption Center of San Diego! Sarah is knowledgeable, experienced, trust-worthy, helpful, patient, supportive, loving and caring to all parties involved in the adoption process. Sarah is ever present through each stage of the adoption process which is so helpful! I highly recommend Sarah to adoptive parents and birthmoms who are interested in adoption.
Larry was our attorney in 2007. He was very patient with our endless questions. He went out of his way to help us many, many times. He was ethical, and most of all, he is a very good attorney. I would hire him again.
My initial contact was Kristi in Poulsbo and I had no problems working with her at all. Our daughter's birthmother was in Nevada so it was Dee who handled all of the paperwork there, got us through ICPC and handled all of the post placement stuff so we could finalize. We never met Dee as she is at the Reno office and we were in Las Vegas. The social worker who worked with our birth mother was Ruth. She was also great. This child was the second time our birthmother used ACD to place a child so I have to believe she felt well taken care of if she went back to them a second time. We certainly felt that ACD did all they could to help us feel our adoption experience was a positive one.
I'm writing because I have a concern about some of the posts here. I think that some people (like tchirocat) who posted positive reviews worked with Dee Rodriguez who I believe is in A Child's Dream's Nevada office. Most of us who have written negative reviews worked with the Poulsbo, WA office. Can you confirm that you worked primarily with the Nevada office? It would be helpful for people to know that, and it might help to clear up the conflicting nature of the reviews posted. (it might be that the Nevada office is good, while many of us believe the WA office should be avoided). Because the heading of this page reads that the office is located in Poulsbo, that office may be receiving kudos earned by the Nevada office rather than itself. Likewise, my very negative experience with Anna Marie and the Poulsbo office should not necessarily be a concern to those considering the Nevada office.
Thank you!
I previously wrote a review on 5/18/11 entitled: Positve Experience...thanks ACD!
Well, as promised, I am back to give them the fifth star. We had some trouble with our post placement agency in our home state and ACD did everything to work with us in order to meet all of our post placement requirements. Our agency here caused us and ACD a lot of headaches. When our last post placement visit was done it took our post placement agency so long to get the paperwork to us and we wanted to finalize in December 2011. When ACD received the paperwork they got right on it and gave us an incredibly fast turn around so that our attorney could try to file in time for a December finalization. Despite the efforts of ACD we didn't finalize until January. The only reason for the hold up was the difficulties with our post placement agency. We thank ACD (especially Dee) for working on our case so quickly and giving it a terrific effort.
The first link goes to a myspace page and the adoption is through LDS Family Services not the Adoption Center of Choice. The other links don't go to anything backing up this review.
We adopted through the Ethiopia program with Children's Hope International, our adoption was completed December 2011. At first we were very pleased with CHI it was not until after we received our referral we became very unhappy. Our contact person became very vague in answering our questions (if answering them at all) and became very hard to get ahold of. Kind of fishy that they were very nice and quick and thorough in answering questions before we turned in our dossier but after (when we were locked in) they were very hard to communicate with. It was after court we became aware of an essential piece of information about our son's history that we really started losing trust in them. They knew this piece of information about his history and kept it out of our referral.
We became good friends with many other families in the process, though I can only review my experience their stories would shock and scare you. They were very slow in answering our questions and rarely answered them directly. In the 5 months between the two trips they were not willing to give us any updates on our son. They finally gave me one weight update after I pushed for it for 3 weeks. When additional info was requested by the US embassy they were slow in getting it.
I know choosing an agency for Ethiopia is hard right now. Many are not accepting new applications and waiting lists are getting very long. Ask specific questions about what happens between the two trips- what kind of updates do you get. Also ask about the embassy process. This is becoming a huge hold up for most families. Don't believe any agency that tells you it will be 6-8 weeks between the two trips. From my friends we all waited 4-5 months.
We worked with Adoptions From The Heart for a domestic adoption in 2010. We found them to be extremely professional and supportive. We worked mostly with Ashley K as our social worker in the Wynnewood office and we also worked with Michaelina. We can not say enough positive things about our experience with both of these phenomenal social workers and the staff at AFTH. They made this process comfortable and not scary or intimidating at all. They walked us through the process and all types of situations we could face and how they would be handled so we would be prepared for anything and everything. We always felt confident with them and supported by them. We started the process at the very end of April 2010, went through the paperwork and homestudy process and then entered the program officially in August. We brought home our baby girl in October 2010, so we were fortunate to not have a long wait at all. Ashley helped us with every question we had and she was there for guidance when we needed it. She answered our calls and emails promptly and thoroughly. The classes offered by AFTH were very informative and allowed us to connect with other adopting parents who could relate to what we were going through. We will be forever grateful to AFTH for creating our family, and we hope to use them again in the future.
I'm sorry that you feel this way. I will continue to support BBAS, their entire staff and politely disagree with what you have to say about them being unethical, uncaring and not trustworthy. I hope that soon you can reach your point of indifference.
Those who PROFIT in the international adoption market ARE pimps. I'm calling it as I see it and as I know it. Not judging - truth telling. We've been down long enough to have heard thtat tune before about the coordinators - how HARD WORKING, how MUCH THEY CARE for the children! How much was he making per placement? if he cared so much about "the children" why wasn't he working to make sure the remain in Ukraine?
Feel free to judge us - that why our website is out there. No need to rehash what has happened - that is why every. single. detail. is out for those to read about our and OTHERS experiences with Denise Lynn Harding-Hubbard.
This agency has never been, nor will they ever be, ethical, caring, trusting or above-board.
There's no need to forgive them. We're just hoping towards indifference.
Dear Elizabeth,
I really do not appreciate you calling the coordinator in Ukraine a "child pimp". You have no idea the effort, time and care he puts into his work and how much he really cares for the children there. You are very bold to call names and judge someone whom you have never even met.
I am very familiar with your website and have read about your experiences with BBAS. However, I still do not know what it feels like to have a child die and I was not there, so I cannot judge you or the things you say regarding the agency's response to you. Though you will surely never be able to comepletely move past it, my hope and prayer for you is that you can find it in your heart to forgive the agency and those people you feel have harmed you. It seems to me that it would be a horrible life to live constantly walking around still with so much anger, resentment and hatred in your heart for others. I'm very sorry that you have been through so much and can't imagine how you feel. I hope that you can eventually stop spending so much time and effort focused on what has happened, how you have been wronged and can find it in your heart to forgive.