Note: This video was recorded on January 2020, a few weeks before the global pandemic affected the United States.
If you are considering adopting a child and would like to know more about what goes on in the Friends in Adoption Get Acquainted Workshops, then this video is for you. Check it out. For more info about our Master Class on Adoption, visit https://www.friendsinadoption.org/gaw/. #adoptionprocess #adoption #openadoption #friendsinadoption #lgbtadoption
Kate: Have you ever considered adopting a newborn? My name’s Kate. I’m a social work supervisor for Friends in Adoption and I’d like to talk to you about an adoption experience. A Master Class in Adoption, not to be missed!
I’m actually talking to you from one of the hotels that we use to offer our Get Acquainted Workshop.
Why would you want to attend? If you’ve ever wanted to know more than you know today about adoption, this is the place for you. It’s an experience. It’s a Master Class in everything you need to know to be successful if you’ve ever thought about building your family through adoption.
Mary: Hi, my name is Mary Walsh Snyder and I’m a private adoption attorney in Albany, New York. I work with many families that sign up with Friends in Adoption for the Get Acquainted Workshop and what they tell me every single time is that Friends in Adoption prepares them for the process of adoption, the legal aspects, the financial aspects, and what it’s like after you bring your baby into your home.
Kate: It’s not just an education. It’s an experience. You’ll hear real live stories. You’ll listen to videos. You’ll have panels of experts talking to you about the practical aspects of adoption and the emotional experiences and every story that is so unique and special and different on this amazing journey.
It’s really important that people do not go into adoption without educating themselves about the challenges, the rewards, all the things that you won’t even think about when you get there — when you leave you’ll have answers.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you may change your mind a hundred times in the course of a short amount of time with us. But no matter what, you’ll walk away knowing more than when you stepped in, and hopefully, you’ll have friends you didn’t have before.
Rob: So my husband and I adopted our son Ben through Friends in Adoption, it’ll be 11 years ago this February.
Bob: The value for my wife and I of the Get Acquainted Weekend, it’s really hard to overstate. It was really a great opportunity for us almost 20 years ago.
Patty: My name is Patty Smith, I’m a case manager with Friends in Adoption. I’m also an adoptive mom of a 13-year-old boy and a 4.5 year old little girl. Fourteen years ago when my husband and I began the adoption journey, we didn’t really know too much about open adoption and I think I panicked a little right before our workshop.
Gerard: My husband and I when we decided that we wanted children, looked at a variety of options that were available to us. We came to a Getting Acquainted Weekend at Friends In Adoption, really seeking to learn more about what it would be like to be adoptive parents.
Patty: My husband said that we should probably maybe reconsider and think about attending a later one to get a little more knowledgeable about open, but I’m sure I needed to go.
Bob: It was really extremely helpful for us to learn about, you know, what we need to know as an adoptive family.
Gerard: The process itself and at that point the weekend that we spent at Friends In Adoption opened our eyes to the possibilities of parenting in ways that we had not expected.
Rob: And the thing that I remember about our Getting Acquainted Workshop was that it was a great way to get to know the people at Friends in Adoption.
Bob: And the staff was really helpful and knowledgeable and really gave us the information and kind of the tools for us to be ultimately successful in becoming adoptive parents and starting a family.
Gerard: Far beyond adoption, but really more about what it meant to be a parent in contemporary society, the challenge that every family faces.
Patty: And I think one of the most eye-opening experiences we had was hearing a birth mom tell her story.
Rob: And I remember being in the car and driving home from the Getting Acquainted Workshop and we both just said wow, these people so clearly are passionate about what they do and clearly loved what they do and for us that really solidified that Friends in Adoption was the agency for us.
Patty: So hearing a birth mom’s story at our workshop. Everything that she said was everything that I was afraid of but everything that I needed to hear to be able to be the best parent I could for my child.
Gerard: It was a transformative experience and changed our lives and today we have two wonderful children and are better for it thanks to Friends in Adoption.
Kate: Consider signing up. We’d love to meet you.
Welcome to Friends in Adoption!