Anybody in Tennessee out there?

Hi there! I noticed your post is several months old, but wanted to say we are from TN. We're just getting started and are in the agency research phase. I've probably contacted well over a dozen agencies and spoken with 3-4. All have been out of state though. There's just so much to learn and it seems one can never be too cautious. Still undecided as to whether to use an agency or deal directly with an attorney. A friend used an attorney and really good experience with him, so we're thinking about setting up a consult. We would love some good references on TN agencies. We've just about settled on a Home Study provider and have a tentative 1st meeting in a week and a half. Just curious how your adoption journey is going? Best of Luck! :)

We're in TN too, and we are just starting our adoption journey. We have chosen a private domestic infant adoption. But, we are using a Nashville adoption agency for our Home Study. Right now we are at the stage of completing paperwork and compiling copies of our life histories for the Home Study. I'm sure I'm not the first one to be amazed at the level of detail of the home study! The agency has recommended a specific Quad A attorney to handle the legal aspect of our adoption. Does anyone in TN have experience with any Quad A attorneys in or near Nashville? I know someone who used this specific atty and was not overly impressed, but that was 5 yrs ago. The agency was highly complimentary about this atty, though, so I'd like to hear more feedback from others.

Sounds like we're all at about the same point in the process. We are in Knoxville so we are working with a local adoption atty and agency. The atty you use should give you references if you ask for them. I would meet with the atty, so you can get a feel for them on your own. We felt relief after meeting with our atty. She was so knowledgable and made us feel really good about her abilities atty. She's friendly yet no nonsense and that's what you need from an atty. We just broke our adoption news to our families this week and they were so excited! We're filling out our mounds of HS paperwork. We are so anxious to get our paperwork in and the HS process going!

Hello TN Families! Just wanted to drop in and see how things are progressing for you in your adoption journey. We completed our home study, but are still struggling with signing with an agency or attorney. We've talked with numerous agencies and 2 attorneys. The 1st attorney recommended we look for a child by word of mouth for awhile. He claims many of his clients find a baby within a year that way. However our social worker tells us we may need to consider expanding our search outside of this region due to being in the heart of the Bible belt -(She says most people in our area are more likely to parent their children). So for 4 months we've been telling everyone, but we feel like we're spinning our wheels. So we're back to trying to decide if we want to sign with an agency/attorney to help us find "our child" and if so, who do we choose. I'd love to hear how things are going with other TN families. Thanks for sharing!

Wow, since my original post, we have completed our Home Study and had a failed placement. It was absolutely heartbreaking and we took some time off of thinking about adoption, but we're back on the horse now, and it seems like possibilities are popping up everywhere! We are not signed up with any local agencies, so we're networking with as many people as possible in hopes of finding an independent match. We have friends and family across the US helping. :D BUT, we actually have an expectant mom reviewing our Profile book this weekend! She is working with the agency that wrote our Home Study, and they contacted us to see if we were interested in being presented. Quite unexpected, but very exciting! We've been saying many prayers and are anxious for a phone call on Monday that will (hopefully) let us know if she is interested in meeting with us. Please say a prayer for patience, peace and wisdom for everyone involved! We did sign up with a referral agency out of OH and I get emails about available situations from them. Most of them range from $25k - $35k, and we just can't afford that. But if you're interested, PM me and I'll give you their name. I was referred to them by a couple of APs on a.com who found their children through them and had positive experiences. We also met with an adoption attorney within the past 2 weeks who is keeping our our profile on file in case any expectant moms ask to see profiles. It seems like since then we have had a few family members and friends mention someone that they know who might be considering adoption for their unborn child. Keep talking to everyone about your desire to adopt! Even if we end up adopting through the agency, it's encouraging to me to know that our "networking" is working! Please feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions about our experiences or just want to chat! Mary

Thanks so much for the info Mary! I've sent you a PM. Natalie

My husband and I are beginning the process of adopting through the state. I looked at agencies and each of them said it could cost anywhere from $7000 to $40,000 and I was worried because the range was so great that we would get into it and not be able to afford it. Through the state is free but you have to foster first. So we are going through foster parenting classes. Once finished with that they do the home study (for free) and then once approved we can foster. We can tell them the age/gender that we are willing to foster and that our ultimate goal is adoption. It is scary because we could foster a child for a long time and then it could go back to its birth parent but we are willing to take the risk. We can also look into children that are already adoptable in state custody. We know we probably not get a baby this way but that's ok...we want a boy under age 6 and we think that is possible. Although if any of you do know of an agency that the rates are not out of this world please let me know. The good thing is our home study once approved by the state will also be able to be used in an agency (and it is free). And my place of employment will pay half up to $4000 of the adoption so if we can find an agency that is resonable we would check them out as well.

Hi, theflatts We're also in Tennessee and trying to adopt. I think we're going to go the private route, but I just called foster care today to see what they had to say. I'm not certain that that is the path for us, as we want to adopt 3 or younger and are not willing to have a child in our home that isn't free for adoption (long story but it has to do with the fact that we have an almost four year old who is my stepson and there were some custody issues where DH lost him for a while and basically can't deal with the idea of attaching to a child and then having to give him/her back.) I'm not sure what part of TN you are in, but I can PM you the name of our home study agency. They also have a small agency program and adoptions through them tend to be $15K or less but they do not work with a lot of expectant mothers so it might be a long wait if that's the only agency you use. You can also pursue an independent adoption where you find your own expectant mother interested in adopting and just work with a lawyer for the legal aspects.