An adoption facilitator is a person or organization whose sole purpose is to connect Birthparents wanting to make an adoption plan with prospective adoptive parents.  They are not necessarily licensed child placing agencies.  Some attorneys act as adoption facilitators, but they are often independent organizations.

They often charge a fee to prospective adoptive families who wish to use their services to find a birthmother.  The fee generally ranges between $3500 to $10,000, although I have heard of some facilitators charging a much higher rate.  Before signing a contract with a facilitator you should talk to them about what that money is used for and whether or not any of that money is refundable.  For instance, if you pay a facilitator $8000 in January and you find a Birthmother on your own February, can you be refunded any money?  Money paid to facilitators is done in a number of ways.  Some request all of the money up front whereas others charge a portion of your fee upfront and the rest when you are connected with a Birthmother.

Before paying any money to a facilitator, we suggest that you check their credentials.  Licensed child placing agencies are regulated by their state to ensure that they are following state adoption law and not doing anything illegal.  Many states do not regulate facilitators, although this has begun to change to ensure that nothing illegally is being done and to ensure that facilitators are not just taking money from couples and not actually searching for Birthmothers who might want to make an adoption plan.

Facilitators search for Birthparents in a number of ways.  Advertising is the main way that they do this.  They advertise in phone books, billboards, newspapers and on the internet, with the internet being the current trend for advertising.  Advertising in itself is a tricky thing as some states do not allow advertising as they see it as a way to solicit Birthparents rather than offer a service.  This varies from state to state.

Laws regarding facilitators vary from state to state as well.  Facilitators are actually prohibited in some states.  Other states regulate what facilitators can do and what they can receive funds for.  In many states facilitators are required to provide detailed information on the connections that they have made between Birthparents and adoptive parents.  I live in Tennessee where facilitators are not permitted to receive any funds from adoptive families to search for or connect them with Birthparents.  We recently had a case where the judge ordered the facilitator to refund the money to the adoptive family or he would not allow the adoption to happen.

When you work with a facilitator, they typically live in another state and the Birthmother might live in a third state.  It is important that you abide by your state laws and the laws of the state where the Birthmother lives regarding the use of facilitators.  Just because facilitators are permitted in one state does not mean that there can’t be complications and conflicts between the other state’s laws.  Before you sign any contracts with a facilitator, we urge you to talk to a AAAA attorney in your state (AAAA stands for American Academy of Adoption Attorneys) about your state’s laws regarding facilitators.

Facilitators can be a good thing for prospective adoptive families and Birthparents provided that they keep in mind everyone’s best interests.  A good, quality facilitator will ensure that everyone’s needs are being met, that counseling is available for all parties and that everyone understands their rights both ethically and legally during the process.  If at any time you feel as though this is not happening you should report this information to your State’s adoption department.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 1st, 2006 at 6:41 pm and is filed under Adoption. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.