From the moment we decided to adopt, we have been blessed with the support of our family and friends (and their friends and family). From the very beginning our families were thrilled for us and, along with our closest friends, were the first to volunteer to host home-based jewelry shows for me, with all the earnings going into our adoption fund. I became one of the top sellers in my area, which shows just how much everyone we know wanted, and still wants, us to have a child!

Additionally, we have many friends who were adopted or have adopted their own children who have been invaluable resources to us by answering questions, offering advice, and providing us with knowledge from their experiences with adoption, be it the use of lawyers, agencies, or the foster system. With their stories in mind, we began our 10 month search for an agency that best fit our needs. We found IAC this past January, and respected them for their lack of bias and their focus on one’s ability to parent versus their age, religion, sexual orientation, and marital status along with the long-term needs of their clients.

The support continued through the approval and marketing processes. Friends and coworkers graciously wrote letters of reference, while family members insisted on helping prep the house for our home visit. Once approved, another friend, an adoptive mom and photographer took our main photo picture for our birthparent letter. One of my cousins created our beautiful video, while Rob’s cousin, who owns a marketing firm, and her team enhanced our words with a beautiful tree-themed birthparent letter that very much reflects our extensive support system.

One of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of our adoption adventure has been to watch people from every chapter of our lives come together in hopes of making our dream of having a little one of our own a reality. Facebook has been an effective marketing tool and a place to leave us encouraging messages throughout our journey. Just last week I asked the fans on our Carrie and Rob adopt page to help brainstorm additional marketing ideas, and Diane, a friend from high school, in her infinite wisdom shared that she’d seen this quote and thought of me: “Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you.” And she is right: we have done all we can and now have to patiently wait until we are introduced to our family- the child or children we are meant to raise and his or her birth parents and their families. Another friend, Martha, left a message that read, “Believe me when I say there are many of us who want this for you just as badly as you want it for you. I keep hoping and praying!”

And that, my friends, is how our family and friends, our “village,” has come together to support us on our adoption journey. We look forward the remainder of this voyage and the moment that we finally hold the coveted titles of “Mom” and “Dad”.

About the author:
Carrie Bedwell, and her husband Rob, are IAC clients waiting to adopt their first child. They reside in Hobart, Indiana and are excited to start their family through open adoption. If you would like to learn more about them visit: http://www.iheartadoption.org/users/carriebedwell or watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO4YfQe9U3w&feature=share
If you want to follow them on their adoption journey, tune in to their blog: http://carriebedwell.wordpress.com/

You’ve signed your contract with your agency and now it’s time to promote yourself as a potential adoptive parent or parents. Though my husband and I are still waiting to “match” with our potential birth parents, here are the marketing strategies we are currently utilizing

Decide what marketing pieces you will use and make sure that each one tells a little bit more about you. Overlap some of the information and pictures, but be sure not to share ALL of the same information on your birth parent letter, website, Facebook page, video, blog, etc. Each marketing piece should divulge a little bit more about you as potential adoptive parents and not bore birth parents by sharing the same information over and over again.

Make your birth parent letter shine! Birth parent letters tend to look like a series of boxes and can often look very much alike. To set yourself a part, if you can, hire a graphic artist to create a birth parent letter that reflects who you are by using whimsical lines, curves, and interesting section topics to set you a part. Do your research. Instead of using titles such as: About us, Carrie by Rob, and Rob by Carrie, etc., think of creative headings that show who you are and provide potential birth parents with important information in a unique way.

Variety is the spice of life! Do not copy and paste your birth parent letter directly into your webpage that is connected to the IAC web page. You can of course, because a lot of people do, but again, put yourself in the shoes of potential birth parents…do you want to keep reading the same information over and over again? My advice is to keep a couple of the sections the same so there is connectivity, but give them something new to read. Additionally, try to create lists or other shortened forms of information. Let’s face it, who wants to read paragraph upon paragraph when they could just as easily be presented the highlights and important pieces of information?

Use the ‘Net! The internet makes sharing information so easy. First, as the agency suggests, create a letter sharing your story and send out a mass email to all of your friends asking them to forward your message to all of their friends in their address book.

Next, create a Facebook page that shares your contact information, photos, etc. Try different tactics to increase the number of “Likes” on your page. One good way is to create an event invitation to get your friends (and their friends) to your page. As your “Likes” increase, so does your visibility. The goal is for your posts to be seen by as many users as possible.

Create a video! Most computers have software that will allow you to create a video fairly simply. First choose pictures you want to include in the video. Again, make sure you don’t choose the same pictures you have shared in all of your other parenting pieces. Decide on an appropriate order for your pictures and then create a script that matches the pictures and tells your story. Finally, set it to music that you feel represents you as a couple or potential adoptive parent.

Share your story via a blog. One way to create a blog is through www.wordpress.com. Here you can pick a theme that best suits you, while sharing your journey to a wider audience. Though blogs are like online diaries, be sure not to share too much information and stay positive in your posts. You never want to sound too desperate as it will turn off your audience.

Create business-card sized advertisements. These miniature marketing pieces can easily be created inexpensively at www.vistaprint.com. They are the perfect size to drop off at doctor’s offices, hospitals, churches, or to send via mail to your friends and family members all over the country and world. Keep the information on these marketing pieces simple: mention that you would like to adoption and include your name and contact information.

What other marketing strategies have you used to promote yourself as potential adoptive parents or parent?

About the author:
Carrie Bedwell, and her husband Rob, are IAC clients waiting to adopt their first child. They reside in Hobart, Indiana and are excited to start their family through open adoption. If you would like to learn more about them visit: http://www.iheartadoption.org/users/carriebedwell or watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO4YfQe9U3w&feature=share
If you want to follow them on their adoption journey, tune in to their blog: http://carriebedwell.wordpress.com/

Life is a challenge, meet it! 

Life is a dream, realize it!

Life is a game, play it! 

Life is Love, enjoy it! 

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Ready, Set, Go! It’s time for your next challenge on the new reality show, Survivor: the adoption series. You will be tested in the areas of endurance, strength, agility, problem solving, teamwork, dexterity, and willpower all with the hope that at the end of your journey that you will be united with the child you are meant to raise. ARE YOU READY?

When my husband and I began our adoption journey earlier this year, we were asked to describe the process of becoming approved and certified through our agency, the Independent Adoption Center. To us, the process is very much like the challenges that contestants endure on the reality series, Survivor. 

To those who might not be familiar with the show, Survivor is a reality-based television  show produced in many countries. On the show, participants are isolated in the wilderness and compete for cash and other prizes. During the course of the game, players compete as tribes or individually in contests called challenges. Challenges consist of various activities that test the contestant’s endurance, strength, agility, problem solving, teamwork, dexterity, and willpower, and are usually designed to fit the theme of the current season.

The commonality, or theme, that many of you reading this have in common with us is that we all hope to adopt a child. Unlike the show, our version of Survivor is reality. We all have hearts overflowing with love for a child or children we have yet to meet. Our tribes might include our spouse, partner, or we may tackle the journey on our own. And let’s talk about those challenges! Background checks, fingerprinting, income verification, driving records, physical exams, letters of reference, questionnaires, and a home visit are facilitated by our Tribal Council, consisting of the office manager and adoption coordinator at our agency. On the show, a jury decides a contestant’s fate, kind of like the social worker or adoption coordinator who is put in charge of one’s home visit and pieces together all the potential adoptive parents’ paperwork to make sure the parent or parents are qualified to bring a child into their home. Though the process is tedious, I think most adoptive parents agree that the process of seeking approval from their agency is well worth their efforts. I personally wish that anyone thinking about raising a child should have to go through this process. At the end of the show, contestants are awarded prizes, much like adoptive parents when they are blessed with a child.

As the lyrics from the song Survivor by the musical group Destiny’s Child state:

I’m a survivor (What?)
I’m not gon give up (What?)
I’m not gon stop (What?)
I’m gon work harder (What?)
I’m a survivor (What?)
I’m gonna make it (What?)
I will survive (What?)
Keep on survivin’ (What?)

To all the potential adoptive parents out there, you will survive the demanding process of approval, and I wish you well!

About the author:
Carrie Bedwell, and her husband Rob, are IAC clients waiting to adopt their first child. They reside in Hobart, Indiana and are excited to start their family through open adoption. If you would like to learn more about them visit: http://www.iheartadoption.org/users/carriebedwell or watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO4YfQe9U3w&feature=share
If you want to follow them on their adoption journey, tune in to their blog: http://carriebedwell.wordpress.com/