They don't seem to be church affiliated, so it looks like they'd be willing to work with us. And they have a domestic AA child adoption program, a no-cost program for harder to place children, and an Ethiopian program. And, oddly enough, their mailing address is at the UPS Store in the shopping center where we go grocery shopping. How weird is that? Would the mailing address be a sign? :p

Has anyone heard anything good or bad? I'm about ready to do a homestudy with them tomorrow after seeing the available children's descriptions in the no-cost program - there's an AA sibling pair with a 3 year old girl and an 18 month old boy. :heart: I don't know if they'd let us adopt them, though, since Rowan's only 3 1/2, and I swear I saw 9 months difference required somewhere.

Wow, it sounds promising! Can't hurt to give them a call! Good luck!

I know nothing but I can't wait to hear how it goes for you..:D

I know nothing but I can't wait to hear how it goes for you..:D

same here :)

crossing fingers for ya :hug: and i guess it goes w/o saying that if you need a reference i'm here, yes?

yup...reference given here too if you need! I want to hear how the homestudy is, honestly..in case I can talk Tom into doing one :D

ok, now see, I was talking all vernacularly, and that doesn't work so well online. "I'm about to" in the sense of "I sure would love to". I'm calling them and seeing about a homestudy, possibly expedited. I don't think we'll qualify for the sibling pair I saw online in time, even with a fast application process, but when the kids meant to be here are ready, I want to be ready for them, you know?

John said go ahead with the application and starting the homestudy process when I asked him.

Good luck!

that's interesting....a no cost program...

we have had several friends adopt from hope for children in atlanta

I haven't heard back from Dare to Love part of AAA (the no cost adoptions). The international adoptions coordinator is doing a speech tomorrow - I might go, but I'd not be able to help the GEC move to the new space, which is what I had planned. She's sending me a packet, whether I go to the speech thingy or not, so I'll have the Ethiopia info.

Anyway - if anyone is interested, this is their site:
http://aaapia.org/contact.htm

If you click on Dare to Love, then on the link at the next page, you can see about the available children. I'm sure by the time we have everything sorted out, it will be a whole new list. And John and I have to talk more about which option we want to pursue.

Don't lose heart, it can take a long time to find sibs a home. My sister found some boys in October, started their homestudy in November, and brought their new sons home in March. They'd been waiting for a home for a year by that point.

Good luck!

Honest opinion?
I would be very very leery of any adoption agency who used the UPS store as their mailing address. Check with the Better Business Bureau in your state before proceeding. Also, check out some of the adoption yahoo groups and bulletin boards and ask for feedback on this agency. The UPS store thing is just a real red flag for me.

I'm glad you mentioned that. The BBB has nothing on them, but I did a yellow pages search, and they're listed at the physical Main St address there. I'm not sure why they have a separate mailing address on the website - if I were to take a WAG, I'd say so that they can receive packages that need a signature when they're not in the office. Given how many things would be FedExed, it would make sense to me. But I'll ask her and see what she says.

Of course, I have a whole other wrench in it that I mentioned in email to my local mama friends - my kids aren't fully vaxed. Rowan is completely unvaxed. And the agency wants a letter from our pediatrician stating they're fully vaxed. Uhhhhh.... Well, anyway, the no cost program is run out of Savannah and that lady's at a conference all week, so when she gets back to me, I'll ask her what she recommends. We have a good reason for stopping the vaxes.

I hadn't even thought about the vax issue until you posted.. I'm interested to hear what she says. :hug:

[QUOTE=mamaxt]I'm glad you mentioned that. The BBB has nothing on them, but I did a yellow pages search, and they're listed at the physical Main St address there. I'm not sure why they have a separate mailing address on the website - if I were to take a WAG, I'd say so that they can receive packages that need a signature when they're not in the office. Given how many things would be FedExed, it would make sense to me. But I'll ask her and see what she says.

Of course, I have a whole other wrench in it that I mentioned in email to my local mama friends - my kids aren't fully vaxed. Rowan is completely unvaxed. And the agency wants a letter from our pediatrician stating they're fully vaxed. Uhhhhh.... Well, anyway, the no cost program is run out of Savannah and that lady's at a conference all week, so when she gets back to me, I'll ask her what she recommends. We have a good reason for stopping the vaxes.[/QUOTE

Just wanted to pop in and say,"How exciting!" I am so anxious to hear any news on the sibling pair you folks are interested in.

Our ped signed our paper for the homestudy we just did, stating ds was up to date on his vax's (which he's not). You go figure. I sure as heck didn't ask him to sign off on anything that was NOT true.

You may be able to file some type of exemption for the vax. i would call a anti-vaccination hotline or something and ask them.

Good luck!

Just an aside note, I have a friend with 16 children, none of them has she vaxed and it's never been an issue for them in adoption. I'll have to ask her what she does.

yeah, I'm curious how to get around the vax thing.

As for Dare to Love, I finally got to talk to the lady. She said call back in a couple of years. The children featured on the website apparently aren't typical ages - she said that they're generally more like 4-6, and they prefer to place younger than the youngest in the family.

Thinking on what to do next.

you know...you'd think if the kids needed a home and you wanted to provide it they'd be all over it.

i'm sorry, what a weanie (i do understand the logic...but again, if the kids need a home and someone has a decent one to provide willingly...)

The birth order thing is for good reason. I don't disagree with them on it - especially with kids who have been through a lot. But... I wish they hadn't listed so many kids under 3 years old on the website. It made me think they might actually be available. Dang it.

It's ok. We'll reorganize when I get back. I can either pursue this through the state or start saving like a nut.

They don't seem to be church affiliated, so it looks like they'd be willing to work with us. And they have a domestic AA child adoption program, a no-cost program for harder to place children, and an Ethiopian program. And, oddly enough, their mailing address is at the UPS Store in the shopping center where we go grocery shopping. How weird is that? Would the mailing address be a sign? :p

Has anyone heard anything good or bad? I'm about ready to do a homestudy with them tomorrow after seeing the available children's descriptions in the no-cost program - there's an AA sibling pair with a 3 year old girl and an 18 month old boy. :heart: I don't know if they'd let us adopt them, though, since Rowan's only 3 1/2, and I swear I saw 9 months difference required somewhere.

xt: I saw this sibling pair and thought of you. DOn't know if you are still searching, though!

It is through A Bond of Love Adoptions in Zionsville, IN:

I copied and pasted the link:

http://www.abladoptions.com/available_situations.html

my husband owns a mail and business and they rent private mail boxes to a lot of legit businesses- like churches and lots of agencies... so having a UPS private mailbox does not show less legitimacy for sure. just means they like having someone be able to sign for packages and such and have a mailbox that is secure and private.