Help Origins-USA Expose the Truth about the Adoption Industry! Origins-USA exposes the truth behind adoption businesses that lure young pregnant mothers in the United States into surrendering their children to adoption. Help us get the word out by submitting additional information to info@origins-usa.org.

Adoption Industry Tactics to Lure Mothers

The adoption industry sites below are NOT endorsed by Origins-USA. They are live examples of the lengths to which the adoption industry goes to entrap mothers into surrendering their children.

Adoption recruiters pretending to be counselors

Many adoption businesses lure expectant parents through ads offering "free, no-obligation counseling" for mothers with unplanned pregnancies who need help understanding their options. But they don't tell mothers that they have a conflict of interest because all their money comes from providing babies to people who adopt. They also don't tell mothers that no professional standards or licensure requirements have been established for these "counselors" for pregnant women, or that the purpose of the "counseling" is to persuade them to surrender their babies. The "counseling" of these adoption recruiters touts the benefits of adoption surrender, disregarding negative outcomes that separation may have for parents and their children or the benefits of keeping families together and honoring and maintaining children's connections to their families.

CourageousChoice offers mothers a "FREE Unplanned Pregnancy Kit" to help them "learn more about your options". The "no-obligation" kit includes "solutions to your unplanned pregnancy", "information about financial assistance" and "access to our 24/7 support network." The site also advertises "Questions? Talk to a counselor today! Free Consultation Call Us Toll Free." The site pushes adoption surrender as the best thing mothers can do for their children: "Adoption is an unselfish gift of love from you to your child. Adoption is a responsible and courageous decision considered by women who want the best possible life for their babies."

Assist Pregnancy Center, in Annandale, Virginia, asks pregnant women to "Consider Your Choices." Yet the site states only the "concerns" about keeping their babies (including "I don't have medical insurance", "I can't afford a child", and "How will I continue working?"), while mentioning only the supposed benefits of surrendering their children for adoption: "Today there are adoption plans in which you can know your child and be a part of your child's life. You can have the peace of knowing your child is loved and cared for by the couple you choose."

"...thanks to crisis pregnancy centers, there are women who are making decisions about unintended pregnancies based on lies, misinformation, and scare tactics. That is why NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia launched a yearlong investigation into the commonwealth's crisis pregnancy centers....Thirty-five of the crisis pregnancy centers in Virginia were found to share dishonest, deceptive, and medically inaccurate information with clients."--Emily Polak, "Do pregnancy centers help or hurt women in crisis?" Fredericksburg.com (Fredericksburg, Virginia), 2/28/10.

In addition to touting the surrender as a way to get financial help, Heartfelt Adoptions also presents surrender as the "unselfish" option for pregnant women who are experiencing financial problems: "Many loving couples could never have a child if it were not for unselfish birth mothers like yourself.  ...Carrying a baby nine months for someone else takes a great deal of love and self-sacrifice..."  

New Beginnings, a Christian adoption agency located in Tupelo, Mississippi, tells pregnant women: "Adoption is part of God's plan!"  New Beginnings offers mothers needing help with housing the Erwin Maternity Care Program, featuring: "a peaceful, nurturing haven away from everyday pressures; private and semi-private rooms; spacious living area; food; clothing; Christian counseling; swimming pool... transportion... internet and other media outlet, educational opportunities, exceptional medical care at a private clinic" and more, all at "no charge" to mothers.

Aggressive marketing by adoption businesses and people seeking to adopt

To reach expectant parents who may be vulnerable to losing a child to adoption, the adoption industry and individuals seeking to adopt spend millions each year advertising through website designed for young pregnant women,  phone book ads, sending materials to health care provider offices and other places where pregnant women go, and other outlets. As a result, many mothers may not receive the accurate information they need to make informed decisions.

Adoption Network Law Center provides its customers "aggressive birthmother outreach to help you adopt a healthy baby." This "outreach" includes "millions of dollars spent on Birthmother advertising annually."

The Adoption Network Law Center's newsletter (2010 Quarter 3) reveals a connection between Adoption Spacebook and Adoption Network Law Center: "Our relationship with www.CourageousChoice.com and www.AdoptionSpacebook.com allows you to have your profile seen by even more prospective Birthmothers."  The unregulated site boasts: "Unlike many state-regulated adoption agencies, ANLC is not confined by stringent state-mandated budget restrictions. This means ANLC can advertise and market more aggressively to quickly present you with an adoption opportunity."

Lifetime Adoption Center's site tells prospective adopters, "As an adoption facilitator, we are able to do nationwide birthmother outreach. We are not limited to a certain geographical area, as many adoption agencies are. Our birthmother outreach team takes full advantage of this opportunity, through our nationwide Yellow Pages campaign, our extensive Internet outreach, and by sending Lifetime brochures and materials to clinics, hospitals, and other locations where a birthmother is likely to be." Expected average costs to adopte are reportedly $12,000 to $25,000.

The National Council for Adoption (NCFA), the national provider association representing adoption businesses, contracted with Dr. Charles T. Kenny, to conduct research for the book Birthmother, Good Mother: Her Heroic Story of Redemption.  Kenny is founder and owner of The Right Brain People, a consumer psychology firm that specializes in "understanding consumer emotion" to "define a company's brand" and whose clients include 22 of the top 40 advertisers (American Express, Walmart, and AT&T, among others). The book identified mothers' negative feelings that they had about adoption during their pregnancies, as well as the fears they had about keeping their babies, to present strategies to "enable women with unplanned pregnancies to consider adoption more freely through counseling and communication." 

The Adoption Space Book site posts profiles of "featured families" who describe their home, how they spend weekends, etc. They also post their thoughts on "What makes a birthmom special."

"How curious that one moment these critics admire [a mother’s] contemplation of adoption and consider it a sign of maturity, and the next they consider it a cause for concern. The proposed act that one day was regarded as a ‘loving choice’ is the next referred to as ‘unloading responsibility’.”--Jim Gritter, 1999. Lifegivers: Framing the Birthparent Experience in Open Adoption. CWLA Press (Child Welfare League of America)

"In a typical case, the couple provides the broker with a file of materials about themselves and their desired child. The broker then presents these materials to a birth mother.... In the interim, the broker frequently coaches families through the art of presentation, advising them, for example, about what color of paper to use or what kinds of photos to select. Most brokers charge separately for these services, applying an hourly rate of $200 to $350." --Interview with Mark T. McDermott, Washington, DC, January 7, 2005. Cited in Debora L. Spare, The Baby Business: How Money, Science, and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception. 2006. Boston, Massachusetts, Harvard Business School Press.

Offers of financial, medical, and emotional support... in exchange for your first-born

Many adoption providers and people seeking to adopt offer expectant parents extensive assistance, including "free" housing; help with medical bills, living expenses, and maternity clothing; counseling and support; education and job preparation opportunities; and even vacations. Although mothers cannot may still be considering their options and hoping to keep their babies, this assistance and support, combined with pro-surrender "counseling," can create feelings of obligation to surrender their children.

Adoptions First, run by attorney David Ellis, lures young pregnant women with a "Birthmother's Package," including Adoptions Firsts' 24/7 "support network", sightseeing trip to Los Angeles, airport transfer and pickup to their "NEW HOME", assistance with living expenses and maternity clothing, plus paid medical expenses and legal and counseling fees. The front page of the site features a photo of a smiling young pregnant woman, with one hand on her belly and another hand holding three fancy shopping bags. The cost to adopt, the Adoptions First site tells "Adoptive Parents", depends on the expenses paid for the "birth mother" and "birth father".

Adoptlink is an unlicensed "adoption facilitation service." It provides a website for pregnant women and mothers of newborn infants and people who want to adopt a baby to select each other. Prospective adopters pay an upfront fee of $4,800. Adoptlink notes: "Some states allow the adoptive family to assist the birthmother with pregnancy-related expenses. These expenses might include rent, food, utilities, medical, counseling, transportation, and maternity clothing... The estimated average contribution toward birthmother expenses (when allowed) ranges from $0 - $15,000 approximately. The current national average cost of domestic adoption ranges from $25,000 to $40,000."

Adoption Space Book--Adoption Space Book asks pregnant women to consider "Is Adoption for You?" by comparing the costs of keeping her baby with the financial benefits of surrendering her child: "Becoming a parent is the most expensive option! Total cost to parent a child ranges from $1,000-$2,000 monthly, and that's on the lower end of the budget!" "Adoption: It costs nothing to you! In fact, pregnancy-related expenses will probably be paid for by the adoptive family, which often include medical care and living expenses. Examples may include: rent, utilities, maternity clothing, food, prenatal vitamins and any other medical expenses not covered by your insurance or Medicaid." Adoption Space Book also offers "Birthmother Housing" with a photo of a fancy apartment building and assistance with living costs.

CourageousChoice.com offers expectant mothers: 24/7 access to emotional support from "Birthmother Advisors", financial support with medical and legal expenses, and free housing. The housing includes "your own private apartment", "a beautiful spacious living area", "a swimming pool", "state-of-the art exercise facility", and "internet access and a computer".

Adopt-Now is an "adoption facilitation services" provider, led by Dr. Hurwitz Kors, says: "Adoptive parents in California can help a birthmother with pregnancy-related living expenses, including food, housing, clothing and medical bills."

Heartfelt Adoption, led by California licensed adoption facilitator Loretta Cooper, offers pregnant women help getting to doctor's appointments, counseling, help with "monthly expenses", "someone to provide maternity food and clothes", "a place to stay", as reasons for mothers to surrender their children for adoption. People who obtain babies from Heartfelt Adoption pay an average of "approximately $20,000." This includes attorney fees in California estimated at $12,000, "Birthmother expenses" of approximately $2,000 - $4,000, which can be for food, shelter, clothing, transportation and medical, and fees to Heartfelt of $4,800.

Lifetime Adoption Center, a registered Adoption Facilitator in the State of California, markets to pregnant women by offering a "Free Unplanned Pregnancy Kit", access to a 24 hour hotline, transportation to doctor's appointments, and housing at the Lifetime Cottage.  The Cottage features include "spacious ranch-like setting surrounded by beautiful trees, full kitchen, beautiful and charming bedroom, high-speed internet access and satellite tv available,...compassionate staff who will ensure your needs are met... on-site opportunities to further your work experience" and more.

Lifetime Adoption Center also markets to pregnant women the educational scholarships available to them after they surrender their baby, through Lifetime Adoption Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides educational scholarships for mothers who have placed children for adoption anytime after 1990.

Promises to "rigorously screen families" to "find a loving home for your child"

Many adoption materials assure expectant parents that adoptive families are rigorously screened to ensure that they will provide a loving, safe, and stable home. What they don't say is that the screening cannot assure any of those things and that the only way mothers can know how their child is doing is to keep their babies with them. They also don't tell mothers that they have a conflict of interest in helping parents make decisions about the future for themselves and their children, because their money comes from providing babies to people who want to adopt.

Adopt-Now tells expectant mothers: "We rigorously screen each of our families to make sure they can provide a loving home for a child.... We'll find you a family who will give your baby all that you hope and dream for her."" Yet the same site tells people looking to adopt: "100% of the families who have pursued an adoption with Dr. Hurwitz Kors have adopted successfully. Over 99% of our families adopted within the first year."

Adoptions First tells expectant mothers: "All of our adoptive families have been pre-screened and have passed a thorough background check, including criminal, prior to becoming clients." The site boasts to people seeking to adopt: "We are proud to GUARANTEE you will be selected within ONE YEAR."