We’ve scoured the Internet to bring you the best sources for informative, inspiring adoption content. With the help of our resident experts and social media savvy staff, we’ve created a list sure to put you on the fast track to content discovery. Share this information with your friends, followers, and readers in support of open adoption.

Facebook Groups

Creating a Family: Talk About Adoption & Infertility

Families Through Domestic Adoption

Facebook Pages

Open Adoption, Open Heart

Adoption Giftbox

Adoption: Share the Love

Adoptive Families

LGBT Parenting

Birthmothers for Adoption

Expectant Moms Thinking of Adoption

America Adopts

Blogs

Open Adoption Bloggers Network

Open Adoption Support

Creating A Family Blog

America Adopts

Babe Ruth – George Herman Ruth, Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948), best known as “Babe” Ruth and nicknamed “the Bambino” and “the Sultan of Swat”, was an American baseball player who spent 22 seasons in Major League Baseball. Ruth was the first player to hit 60 home runs in one season in 1927. Ruth’s lifetime record of 714 home runs stood until 1974 when Hank Aaron surpassed it.

Babe was adopted at the age of seven and was introduced to baseball by Brother Matthias at St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys. He is one of the most iconic athletes in US Sport’s history.

Kirby Puckett – Kirby Puckett (born March 14, 1961- March 6, 2006) was widely regarded as one of the best, and most popular, Major League Baseball players of the 1980s and early-to-mid 1990s. His unquestionable baseball prowess, outgoing personality, charity work, community involvement, healthy image, good repoire with the media, and nice-guy attitude earned him the respect and admiration of fans across the country. His home run in the 1991 World Series is often regarded as the highlight of his careerhttp://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=4429223 (streaming video of Home Run)
Kirby had two adopted children with his wife Tonya, Catherine Margaret and Kirby Jr.

Night Out! is an annual event celebrating the work of those involved with OFC. This year’s event takes place on Thursday, April 19 from 6-9pm at the Parc 55 Hotel in downtown San Francisco. Tickets are available for $125 and include cocktails & wine, a sit-down dinner, silent auction, and the comedian, Marga Gomez as MC.

As an LGBT friendly adoption agency that helps create culturally and ethnically diverse families, we do all we can to encourage the continued success OFC’s programs and events. Come join us in celebration of Our Family Coalition and their efforts to make the San Francisco Bay Area a supportive and fabulous community for LGBT parents and their children.

To learn more about Our Family Coalition visit their website or follow them on Facebook.

Dawn Davenport of Creating a Family also reports that, “…according to the Government Accountability Office, 68% of the nearly 100,000 returns claiming adoption tax credits were audited. We have no way to tell what percentage is being audited this year, but given what we are currently hearing, I would say it is running about the same as last year.” Further, the IRS claims that those who aren’t audited can expect to receive the refund in three weeks, though people are reporting longer waits. If you are audited, it is estimated to take up to 14 weeks to receive the refund.

View the full post on Creating a Family’s blog: Adoption Tax Credit Delays

Good Housekeeping Magazine, May 2012

In a recent interview with Good Housekeeping, actress Mariska Hargitay reveals her painful adoption journey that eventually led to two successful infant adoptions, just six months apart.

She discusses various defining moments in the adoption process; the dreaded wait, the instant bond formed with a birth mother, the heartbreak of an unlikely adoption reclaim, considering transracial adoption, the magical birth and hospital experience, and how “worth it” everything seems in the end.

Her story is all too often true for couples and individuals waiting to adopt. But what begins as months or years of what feels like relentless struggle, can change in a moment’s notice. Suddenly what felt so far is curled up in your arms and you revel in the euphoria of a dream come true.

For those interested in adopting, it is important to research types of adoption services are available. The most successful adoptions are those where both parties are well informed and firmly committed to the best interests of the child. At the IAC, our licensed social workers prepare adoptive parents for the uncertainties of adoption, including how to avoid high risk situations. We ensure that both adoptive parents and birth parents are comfortable with any situation they enter into and we mediate these situations so that everyone’s needs are met. In rare situations where an adoption reclaim occurs — when the birth mother decides she wants to parent shortly after the child has been placed in the adoptive parents’ home — we are there to provide as much support as needed so that the couple or individual can push forward and pursue a successful adoption.

Read the full interview with Mariska Hargitay, “My Faith Pulled Me Through”

Read the summary on Celebrity Babies, “Mariska Hargitay: Adoption Is Not for the Faint of Heart”

Simply “opening” adoption, however, does not guarantee healthy relationships. The report made sure to identify factors that contribute to the long term success of open adoptions. Some important factors being pre-adoption counseling for both expectant and adoptive parents and ongoing, professional support for both parties after the adoption is complete.

The executive summary makes sure to point out, that although adoption has come a long way, many people entering the process — or those unaffected by adoption — still harbor misunderstandings about adoption deeply woven into history and the media. Adoption professionals, the institute concludes, must work hard to provide accurate information on the realities of openness and continue to push down adoption barriers.

The authors of this study are leading open adoption researchers, Deborah H. Sigel, Ph.D. and Susan Livingston Smith, LCSW.

The adoption study is also covered on ABC News.

To download the full report, visit the Adoption Institute website:
“OPENNESS IN ADOPTION: FROM SECRECY AND STIGMA TO KNOWLEDGE AND CONNECTIONS.”

As we prefaced in our Winter Open Adoption Magazine, we have launched a re-designed website at http://www.adoptionhelp.org . There are many reasons for this change; foremost to keep up with technology in an effort to better serve our waiting families and potential birthparents.

We want to highlight a few points of interest:

Advanced Family Search: We have installed real-time search filters making it easier for birthparents to narrow their search to find a family that meets their needs. We also simplified the page layout in order to maximize space for family photos. More information is revealed about each family with a simple scroll over action.


Enhanced Profile Pages: We have added profile pages that enable birthparents to learn more about our families without leaving our website.

Simplified Client Resource Center: All important client information is stored in one location.

Improved Chat Features for Birthparents: We now offer a chat feature on BOTH of our websites so that potential birthparents can reach our staff while on either adoptionhelp.org or ihearadoption.org. Previously, chat was only available on iheartadoption.org.

Expert Q&A Section: Until now, AdoptionExperts.Org operated as an independent site run by IAC experts, Ann Wrixon and Kathleen Silber. Now it’s integrated into AdoptionHelp.Org to make open adoption information easily accessible to everyone.

We welcome feedback and encourage comments!

As the mother of six children — three biological, two through surrogacy and adoption, and one through open adoption — Lynn Maggio discusses how open adoption has impacted her family and why she believes in the work we do here. Her words are genuine and heartfelt — a wonderful spokesperson for the IAC!

Read also: Mrs. Alabama Supports Adoption & IAC

We are thrilled to share this brand new film on families of open adoption. Produced by Pixel Fish, this film will be used to show prospective adoptive families what open adoption involves and the caring, compassionate role that the IAC plays in the process.

The participants in the film, all IAC clients and staff, share their personal stories and address the fears and realities of open adoption. By weaving these true-life stories of adoptive parents and birth parents, it is evident that, while no two stories are the same, everyone wants what is best for the child.

A big thanks to all participants who volunteered their time and beautiful stories. And thank you also, to Pixel Fish for providing their professionalism and expertise in the making of the film.