Please proceed with extreme caution on the Adoption Law Center. My husband and I had a conference call with them and they are very hard sell (or at least our experience was). I have also done research on-line after our experience and found a lot of negative experiences from birth mothers that used them.
Hi,
We are using Chinese Children International. When we first started the process, the wait was 18 months to a year. Well on October 27 of this year, it will be 3 years. We still have 7 months of people logged in before us and they are referring anywhere from 2 days to 1 week at a time....The math does not work in our favor.
Anyone on here know anything about Building Blocks Adoption Agency in Medina, OH?? I know it's probably a long shot, but it IS a small world after all....
BTW, this is not the agency I used and had a bad experience with. They make that agency look like a bunch of angels. IMHO, BBAS is hands down, the most cringeworthy adoption agency on the face of the planet. I have heard horror stories you would not believe. The worst of these involved a critically ill Russian baby being placed with a family (and yes, the family kept asking, "Are you sure this baby is okay?" and was assured it was fine) and the baby literally died in their arms while they were still in Russia. The agency's attitude was heartless. Their complete lack of sensitivity regarding the death of the baby and the trauma suffered by the new parents was astounding and very telling as to their true colors.
I break out in a cold sweat when I hear about anyone considering using BBAS. Dear lord, save yourself and run from them.
OH DEAR!! I talked to a woman on the phone from BBAS...Denise ...I think? She sounded so professional and convincing. However, I looked them up and came across the story that you are referring too....HOW AWFUL!! I threw my "info packet" from them in the trash! 
We just don't want to have to feel controlled by the birthmother in ANY way....
My husband and I are really going to be careful with which agency we choose. Have you heard anything about Family Adoption Consultants? They have offices in Ohio and Michigan. They work with a New York based agency called Spence Chapin. Also, they only do international adoption, which I think that is the route we are going to take. We are afraid the problems we might run into with the Birthmother if we go Domestic. We really DO NOT want an open adoption and we were told that open adoptions are encouraged more in Domestic.
We watched the video and even without getting a medical evaluation, I could tell that baby had medical issues that were beyond what we were willing or able to accept. We don't really have family members to help us or take a special needs child if we die, so we had been very clear that we needed a reasonably healthy child. Still, I paid for an international adoption doctor to evaulate the tape and medical report. The doctor verified my suspicion that the child had serious problems. So we declined the referral. The agency told us that no one had ever said anything negative about that baby before and the doctor was just being alarmist and covering her rear. They essentially said we had been offered a near perfect baby and were fools for passing her up....What were we holding out for??? After I got wise to them and got private responses, I found out they had "shopped" that poor baby around for MONTHS before showing us her video. Many couples had declined to adopt her for the very reasons we gave. And the agency knew that IA specialists had diagnosed her with serious medical problems, yet the told us no one had ever made any remarks about such issues. One family had even MET the baby and said she seemed worse in person than on the video....that something was terribly wrong with her. God knows how many people they kept showing that video to until someone adopted her, accepting their story that she was just fine. 
My husband and I are really going to be careful with which agency we choose. Have you heard anything about Family Adoption Consultants? They have offices in Ohio and Michigan. They work with a New York based agency called Spence Chapin. Also, they only do international adoption, which I think that is the route we are going to take. We are afraid the problems we might run into with the Birthmother if we go Domestic. We really DO NOT want an open adoption and we were told that open adoptions are encouraged more in Domestic.
I just THOUGHT we had a bad experience until I came across that "incident" with BBAS! Shortly after it happened, I was in contact with the mother of the baby that died and she and I corresponded. My heart broke for them, but one thing that never was far from my mind was that had I stayed with the original agency we'd signed with, I could have imagined something similar happening to us. Not that the baby we adopted would have died, but so many of the things the woman at BBAS did were exactly the same as what the people at our agency did. Same m.o. Same lines, same pitch, same lies, same everything. She was just worse, that's all. Yes, the mother in question has become something of a crusader, but I swear, if I had watched my baby die in my arms, I'd be on a crusade too. She has made it her mission to warn others and I can't blame her.
That is one thing I learned when adopting. Whether it be domestic or international, agency or private, open or closed.......It is a business. And like any other business, you have some unscrupulous parties. In this case, they are dealing with couples who are often desperate, because they want a baby so much. And the shady ones will prey on that and take full advantage. Sadly, adoptive parents are easy targets. So we have to go into it with our heads first and not our hearts. Once you get that child, your heart can lead the way. Until then, use your head. No one will look out for your interests better than YOU will. Granted, there are many ethical, decent people who are involved in helping couples adopt. But I've seen too many that will wear that little Christian fish pin, smile a sweet smile and lie to your face while they cash your nonrefundable check as fast as they can. Listen to any inner voice that says, "That just doesn't sound right...." We did that, got ourselves out of a pickle, and managed to adopt a very healthy, happy, loving infant daughter from Russia.
It's been several years since I adopted and that name isn't ringing a bell right now. What countries are you considering adopting from? If it's any country in Eastern Europe, I'd visit the FRUA website. You can ask for feedback about an agency there, but make it clear that people can respond to you privately. And don't use a name that clearly identifies you as YOU. Let me explain why. Agencies troll sites like those. Some will stop your adoption in its tracks if they find you posting on those sites. So you don't want to be easily identifiable. If your name is Jane, don't use "Jane" or your initials, birthdate, hometown, college team, etc. as your name. It might not hurt to create a whole new email account just for that sort of website, that is also not tied to your "identity." So if someone responds to you, and it's really an agency troll, they can't figure out who you are. But if they are just a concerned adoptive parent who wants to warn you to stay away from XYZ Adoption Co., they may not want to post publicly for fear of the agency putting the brakes on THEIR adoption. That's why you let them respond to you privately.
I learned that lesson too late. When I asked for feedback, I seemed to get neutral or positive feedback about the agency we eventually chose (and left.) Once we started having trouble, I got the bright idea to tell people they could respond privately and boy, did the "run, don't walk" stories come out of the woodwork. Had I known about those BEFORE we signed with the agency, we would never had signed with them. Lesson learned.
An example: The first referral they sent us was of a beautiful little girl, just a bit older than our requested limit. Oddly, she looked just like DH.
No agency is perfect. All have some adoptions that fail. That's life. For me, the test is, how do they react and try to "make it right" when things go bad? Do they walk away and keep your money? Do you blame you? Or do they do whatever it takes to make sure you get a child? Because ANY agency can be a "GREAT" agency when things go smoothly. The true test is, are they there for you when things go bad and you need someone to fight for you?
Don't get me wrong....I'm an advocate on international adoption. I just want people to go in with their eyes open, so the outcome will be as positive as possible. As for me and DH, the only thing better would have been to have been able to adopt again. DD is a dream come true.
Sometimes I do feel like that WE HAVE to be our own advocates when it comes to adoption. It's sad that there are so many out there that prey on these poor couples. Husband and I will definitely go into this with our eyes wide open!! Thanks again!! 
I found an agency!! European Adoption Consultants! Several people at my husband's company went through them and all were very POSITIVE experiences!!
Now we have to figure out what country......Ukraine, Russia, or Kahsakstan....we have our application almost finished!!!
It must be different in Michigan.
