What else can we legally do?

hi, we're not from illinois, but dd was born there and we adopted her from illinois. here's the national adoption info clearinghouse statement on facilitators. it appears they're legal in Illinois, and we used a facilitator to find dd (worked beautifully, but be careful, some facilitators charge a ton and aren't actually that great). [url]http://naic.acf.hhs.gov/general/legal/statutes/advertising.cfm#nfive[/url] good luck! lisaCA

Jen, Have you talked with the lady who runs the Crisis Pregnancy Center in town? Have you gone to the student medical center or talked to them? I have seen ads in the Student Paper, I read it from time to time...but there is no way of knowing how successful that is. You could do the business card thing - leave them all over the place (with permission of course).

Thank you, Lisa, for your search of the NAIC website. I'm uncertain about IL's new law... guess I should put my thinking cap on and read up on it. Thanks, Brandy, for your suggestions. We have resisted doing any "real" advertising. Something just feels strange about it, but if that's what we are going to have to do then I guess we should get started. I've thought about trying to work with the campus. Thanks for reinforcing that I'm thinking in the right directions. I'm just in a sort of funk right now and I'm going to have to do something to get out of it. Hitting the year mark seems to really have depressed me. Time to do something about that!

I know what you mean. we really didn't want to do the legwork ourselves, so we hired someone (a facilitator) to do it for us. I think there are some things we felt more comfortable doing, so if we hadn't hired a facilitator, we would have spoken to ob/gyns, pediatricians, possibly local churches. Beyond that, it seemed like we would be opening ourselves up to scam artists and also having to deal with everyone asking how the adoption was going-ick. For us, the $4200 we paid to a facilitator was worth it just for peace of mind and to not have to deal with all this stuff. Dh and i were so busy that we felt we barely had time to cook dinner, let alone deal with the phone calls etc. Still, others have found the networking to be useful since the entire process is out of their control. networking makes you feel as if you're doing something and can be quite productive. I wish you luck! Lisa

I'm doing some debating about what I wanna do next. DH is working a lot right now. He is supportive, but doesn't have any free time to help out. We have been contacted several times by "shady" people and I feel crummy afterwards. I am always so careful when talking to them on the phone. (Even had one verified as a scam on this forum.) I would like to find a way to screen them out. I wish they understood that we are already on an emotional rollercoaster and don't need another loop in our track!!!

All I know about the new law in IL is that anyone working on adoptions must be not-for-profit and that they must be licensed in IL. I think a lot of agencies/facilitators will not fit into the new criteria. The only other thing that I can think of, other than what others have already said, is to re-examine your written and online profiles. Do you still like them? Do they still represent you, your dreams, your life? If not, maybe update them (especially the online ones - less work! :) ) Additionally, have your preferences for a child changed at all (race, health risks, etc)? If so, update that with both your profile and your SW. We kinda feel like you do - something makes us uneasy about advertising. It's a personal decision, not for everyone. Follow your gut. Hang in there....I know the wait is horrible, but it will happen.

Jen, I haven't talked to you in a while - any luck? I'd love to look at your profiles - even meet for lunch and look at your paper profile :) PM me, lets try to get together!