An Adoption Coach Helps Answer the Big Questions

It is not an exaggeration to say that the adoption process is a roller coaster ride.

Anyone who has adopted a child will tell you: the bureaucratic and legal parts of the adoption process, the stress of interviewing with birth mothers or foreign adoption officials, and the extraordinary financial pressures of the adoption process — all add up to constant worry and, perhaps, sleepless nights.

All the stress of the adoption process becomes worthwhile, however, when the process is complete and an adoptive parent can look at his or her new child, secure in the knowledge that the family has — finally — grown.

The role of an adoption coach is to act as a guide for an adoptive family — from the beginning of the adoption process through the moment the final legal papers are signed.

Adoption coaches guide adoptive parents — whether singles or couples — through the non-legal parts of the adoption process, and use their expertise and knowledge to give adoptive parents some security during difficult and emotional times.

Jeannette Appold: An Adoption Coach With Personal Adoption Experiences

My name is Jeannette Appold. I am an attorney by training and an active member of the North American Council on Adoptable Children. I became an adoption coach out of a desire to share my first-hand knowledge of both U.S. and international adoptions with other adoptive families.

I adopted my two children, both from within the United States as infants, via private adoptions. I am an aunt to two children adopted from Russian orphanages. We currently serve as foster parents, providing respite care to children who are between more permanent homes.

Anyone who wants to adopt, should be able to adopt a child, even a U.S. infant. Financial cost or legal barriers should never prevent a family from adopting a child.

Learn more about my background and experiences by reading my detailed biography.

Questions to Ask at the Beginning of the Adoption Process

The adoption coaching services that I provide are intended to help adoptive parents from the very beginning of the adoption process. Some of the most important questions that I help adoptive parents answer include:

§    What are the relative benefits and drawbacks of a private adoption as compared to a foster care or agency adoption? What about an international adoption?

§    If you are planning a private adoption, what is your tolerance about the time frame within which the birth mother can revoke consent? These time frames differ dramatically from state to state. Answering this question honestly for yourself at the very beginning of the adoption process can save tremendous heartache down the road.

§    What are the benefits and potential drawbacks of adoption across lines of race or ethnicity? Interracial adoptions can proceed much more quickly.  As the mother in an interracial family, I can speak from firsthand experience about the fears associated with interracial adoptions and provide strategies to overcome those fears.

§    Are you planning to adopt an infant or an older child?

§    What is your budget? This is another area in which planning should be realistic, in order to create a realistic adoption plan.

§    How can the family present itself in the best light to birth mothers? I help develop strategies for presenting a family to prospective birth mothers and help with the actual presentation of the birth mother letter.

§    What is there to fear with regard to the home study? I walk my adoption coaching clients through the home study step-by-step, to help erase the fear of the unknown.

Contact Me for a Free Initial Telephone Consultation

I warmly invite you to use this Web site to learn more about myself and about the adoption coach services I offer. To talk about your specific questions or hopes for adopting a child, contact me to schedule a complimentary initial consultation.