Impact of Social Media on Post Adoption
What do you do if your adopted child wants to make contact with his or her birth families? Social Media is making it easier to do this on your own, but it is not necessarily the best approach.
Learn about Post Adoption Services offered by Friends in Adoption:
Friends in Adoption’s Post Adoption Services:
More and more of our Friends in Adoption kids are expressing interest in connecting with their birth families. When Friends in Adoption’s Post Adoption team receives a request, we let the caller know that we would need to speak with a parent as a first step. In our experience the parent is most often supportive of their child’s desire to search. With the parent’s permission we review the file and check with state laws to assure all that we are in compliance with the information we are giving to the family.
Occasionally we get a panicked call – a few years ago one of our kids found his sibling on Facebook. The two teens decided they were going to meet half way from where they lived (many miles a part). Fortunately one of the teens told his Mom. The Mom called Friends in Adoption and we were able to intervene and helped to create a healthy connection between the families.
If you are an Friends in Adoption alumni family and If you or your child is interested in doing a search please feel free to contact Friends in Adoption’s Post Adopt team by contacting us or call 1-800-982-3678 (1-800-98-ADOPT).
Beware of Scammers using Online Adoption Information
An article written by Carrie Goldman recounts Kellie’s story, a birth mother trying to find her birth daughter using the internet. She found that by posting too much information online about her birth daughter, she was being contacted by people looking to use that information against her.
Kellie explained, “The fact that he had the name Brittney can only mean this person is on adoption sites collecting the information that desperate birth moms have provided in their online searches for their children. Of course, he wanted to tell me that my daughter had left me money. I’m assuming if I answered him, he’d ask for a bank account number, saying he could wire transfer the money to me. I called our local sheriff’s department to see if there was any action they could take to stop him and, they referred me to the FBI.”