ANSWER: No, our clients are free to pursue any type of adoption they wish with whatever filters that are right for them.  There are not any additional fees for adopting twins or pursuing a specifically targeted adoption.  Our program places a strong emphasis on fostering an environment that lets clients personalize their adoption plan without being restrained by an aggressive fee structure.

Thank you for your wonderful questions.  With respect to your first question, we only present prospective adoptive parent profiles to fully screened, last trimester birth mothers who fit the requirements of each prospective adoptive parent in advance.  This greatly increases the likelihood that the client will want to pursue the first birth mother who selects him/her.  That being said, the decision of whether to match with a specific birth mother is a visceral, as opposed to an analytical, process.  Simply put, it has to feel right.  If a client doesn’t feel that the situation is right for him/her, he/she can always pass on the opportunity and continue to be presented to birth mothers until the “right” birth mother selects them.  With respect to your second question regarding the average number of clients who pass on being selected by a birth mother, we would estimate that approximately 80% of clients go forward with the first birth mother who selects them and about 20% pass on their first opportunity.  With respect to your third question, we are very proud to be able to report that when a birth mother selects one of our clients through our program, and the client decides to go forward with the match, that match is three times more likely to result in a successful placement than the national average of all adoption programs. We hope this answers all of your questions. As always, please feel free to send us more or give us a call at 818-789-3477 so we can further discuss.      

Thank you for your question.   We believe that some of what you are observing stems from the closing down of international adoption programs.  As a private adoption law firm exclusively focused on voluntary domestic adoption, we have not been affected by this.    In fact, we are very proud to report that we are having another great year.  Indeed, for the past seven years, AdoptHelp has consecutively increased the number of successful adoptions through our program and we are on pace to exceed our goal this year.  We have developed a highly proprietary and effective advertising and outreach program that is at the core of our success.  We maintain very thorough program statistics which we are happy to share with our potential clients and would be happy to send you references from clients who have used our program in the past.  Should you like to learn more about our program, we can send you a packet of information about our program and set up and office or phone consultation so we can explain how our program works and answer any questions you may have.    

The answer is No.  However, the amount of the credit may be reduced significantly after December 31, 2010.  Indeed, the federal adoption tax credit was implemented in 1996, and provides a credit of $5,000 to adopting parents for the adoption of a child ($6,000 in the case of a child with special needs).  Fortunately, the law does not include a “sunset provision” whereby its provisions will expire and therefore, this version of the adoption tax credit is permanent.

However, in 2001, Congress ammended the original tax credit law increasing the amount of the adoption tax credit to $10,000 per child.  Congress also insured that the credit would increase each year for inflation.  Currently, the amount of the adoption tax credit is $12,150.  Unfortunately, Congress included a general “sunset provision” for the Act, which states that all provisions of the Act do not apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2010. 

On January 6, 2009, Representative Wilson of South Carolina introduced House Bill No. 213 entitled: “Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009.”  The purpose of the bill is to repeal the sunset provision of the 2001 bill.  In other words, this bill will remove the sunset provision and allow the more than $12,000 credit to continue in full force.  The bill was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means Committee and remains there as of now.

If Representative Wilson’s bill is not passed and Congress does not repeal the “sunset provision” as it applies to the adoption tax credit, the amount of the adoption credit will revert to the $5,000 original limit ($6,000 for special needs children) for all taxable years after December 31, 2010.   Fortunately, many believe that the bill will pass and the current version of the adoption tax credit (which increases each year to account for inflation) will be renewed.

Answer:  The amount of contact that you’ll have with your birth mother will vary, depending on the situation. However, most birth mothers and adoptive families who pursue an open adoption email and/or talk on the phone about once a week. This is important for both parties as it’s a way for everyone to get to know each other and feel more comfortable with one another. Because prospective adoptive parents are almost always in the labor and delivery room for the birth of the baby, we suggest that you meet your birth mother in person prior to the hospital. This is a wonderful way to make everyone feel as comfortable as possible with one another. Your adoption caseworker will help you in deciding how often you should be in contact with your birth mother based on the birth mother’s comfort level, as well as your own.