How do you pick an agency?

Well it depends, are you thinking of in state or out of state adoption? Do you want an agency with a flat fee or does that matter? Do you want an agency that you can walk into or does it matter if you ever meet (we haven't met any of our placing agency representatives). You ask a HUGE question so I think the best thing to do is speak to your DH about some things that are IMPORTANT to you and that will help you narrow your search and ask a more detailed question. There are THOUSANDS of agencies and without some narrow spectrum then it will be asking for people to answer a question relative to finding a needle in a haystack. Find out what is important will help in the search. Resources - adoption fairs and seminars, if you know anyone that has adopted before asking them if they mind sharing their advice/story, webinars about adoption - some of them are held by agencies so you can get a feel of personnel as well as get info. There is a thread on here "agency listing" or something like that - top of adoptive parent threads - that people have listed names of agencies and location - these are people that are willing to be contacted.

Allwhohope, I am in the same situation as the topic starter. I am so confused and overwhelmed right now. I did not even know about the options that you listed (like flat fee, walk in agency, etc). I've heard something, but nothing definite. And I don't know where to start from. Calling each single agency, setting an appointment, checking about prices? I can call and even visit local agencies, but I can't call all of them, right? We are interested in a european newborn adoption (domestic, interstate).

A book that was extremely helpful for us was "Adoption for Dummies". It's a fun layout, easy to understand (duh :)), and VERY helpful. I would suggest that to help you narrow down your search, etc.

Well in addition to what you stated you also have to consider what type of adoption are you comfortable with? Closed, semi, or open? Some agencies only work with open while others aren't selective. What type of medical history are you willing to accept? Prenatal care history? All of those things and other questions are things you need to help so you can help navigate your agency choice. However doing agency out of state, the first thing you have to do is do a home study by an agency in your state. Google adoption agencies around you and make calls to them about whether they will do home study for you. Some only do home study for adoptive parents using them while most probably make a majority of their income by doing home studies for people using out of state agencies (like the one we used). Once you get started with your home study you will be faces with questions and that will help narrow down what you are and aren't comfortable with. Your social worker might also be helpful to suggest agency or a start path.

For us, I started by talking to another couple we knew who had adopted. I just asked her to share her process with me and I asked a couple of general questions. She encouraged me to look into local agencies because she felt they got more personal service with a local agencies versus a larger international agency. I ended up on the child welfare governnment page which deals with all types of childrens interests, including adoption, foster care, etc. They have a page there where you can search agencies in your state. You can search for private agencies, those working with the state foster care system or both. You can also search coordinators and facilitators, and it should tell you if the use of facilitators in your state is legal. Once I got a list of agencies from there I just started going down the list and looking into what I could find online. If the agency or professional has a website there will be a link to it, along with addresses and phone number etc. So there were a few that we ruled out right away because they wouldn't be able to address our needs and then there were others that were better contenders. Most have a lot of information available on their websites, or if you send a request for info, you will get it back almost right away. I narrowed it down to two agencies basically on the feel of their website, their mission and core values, their practices and policies, and our interests. Then I went to forums and looked for other people who might have experience with those particular agencies for personal opinions and lastly I phoned them both, spoke to their intake coordinators and then set up a meeting with the one we eventually chose. That was basically my process! A lot of the agency websites also have a links page where they will link to general adoption info and other places you can look just to learn about adoption. If we had a bookstore close I would totally go for the Adoption for Dummies book! The info isn't too hard to understand once you get it all, but ther is A LOT and it can be VERY overwhelming. Have faith and keep reading and you will start to feel more comfortable.Here is the US Child Welfare site which has tons of general info as well as specific info. Lots to read, but good accurate stuff.