As an expectant parent, a hopeful adoptive parent, or just someone who would like to learn more about adoption in Texas and Dallas, Texas, in particular, you may be beginning the process of learning more about adoption. You may have found yourself unexpectedly expecting and hoping to get more information about adoption as an option for you and your baby. You may be a hopeful adoptive parent who is yearning to build your family through adoption. You may also be researching a loved one or yourself in the hopes of helping them or yourself learn more about the adoption process. As you begin this journey, it is important to understand what an adoption agency in Dallas can provide in terms of resources, services, and support throughout the adoption process for all members of the adoption triad, whether it be an expectant parent, prospective adoptive parent or a loved one of someone interested in adoption. One such adoption agency in Dallas is Gladney Center for Adoption.
Adoption Agency in Dallas – Gladney Center for Adoption
As the former Executive Director of Joint Council on International Children’s Services and former Program Manager for the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, I was regularly asked by others to recommend a great adoption agency for support in helping to create an adoption plan or to use to help finalize and facilitate an adoption. Joint Council on International Children’s Services was founded as a trade association for adoption agencies in the 1970s. As the organization evolved, they worked with adoption agencies to set standards of practice for adoption agencies that met the highest ethical, transparent adoption standards. Gladney Center for Adoption was always highly recommended by other adoptive parents, birth parents, and adult adoptees who worked with Gladney years after their adoption to support their search and reunion program. Gladney is so well respected in the adoption community. Their plethora of services for adoptive parents, expectant parents, birth parents, and those who were adopted is what sets them apart from the rest. If you are looking for an adoption agency in Dallas, Texas, Gladney Center for Adoption is a great place to start.
The History of Adoption Agencies in Dallas, Texas
The history of the Gladney Center for Adoption as an adoption agency in Dallas, Texas, is quite extraordinary. In 1887, one man, a circuit-riding Methodist minister named I.Z.T. Morris, founded the Texas Children’s Home and Aid Society to provide hope and forever homes for orphaned children. Edna Gladney eventually became the Texas Children’s Home and Aid Society superintendent and tirelessly worked for children to receive a safe, loving forever family. She worked to change laws in the Texas legislature to remove derogatory adoption language like “illegitimate” from birth records in Texas and argued that adoptive children should have the same inheritance rights as biological children. She won, and Texas became the first Southwest state to change such laws.
As time went on, Gladney Center for Adoption was the first adoption agency or any welfare organization to provide a pregnancy hotline in 1976. In 1991 the organization was renamed The Gladney Center. Today, Gladney is the leader in providing support programs and services for children, adoptive parents, expectant parents, and birth parents. Their headquarters are in Texas, and although they are an adoption agency in Dallas, Texas, they serve hopeful adoptive parents and families and expectant parents throughout the United States.
Gladney Center for Adoption Support of Expectant and Birth Parents
As an adoption agency in Dallas, Gladney Center for Adoption is unique in its support of expectant and birth parents through every step of the journey. You may have just found out you are pregnant, you may be far along in your pregnancy, or you may already be parenting a child or children. Gladney Center for Adoption uniquely serves and supports you as an expectant parent or birth parent regardless of where you are in the process. You can contact their options counselors regardless of whether you have decided on adoption or not. They will support you in answering any questions you may have regarding the adoption process and creating an adoption plan. You can easily speak to an options counselor at Gladney by calling, doing a video chat, filling out an online form, or texting. Reaching out to an options counselor at Gladney Center for Adoption does not mean you have decided to make an adoption plan for your baby; it does not mean anyone will pressure you to make any decision, and there is certainly zero judgment on your situation. No adoption agency should ever place pressure on you to make any decisions. Only you know what is best for you and your baby. Gladney and other good adoption agencies will answer your questions, give you the information you need, and support you through the entire process.
Although Gladney Center for Adoption is over 130 years old, they are intimately aware of how much adoption has evolved in just the past decade or even the past three years. Expectant parents and birth mothers have more control than they have ever had in the history of adoption in the United States. As an expectant or birth parent, you create your adoption plan. You choose your baby’s adoptive parents, and you decide how much communication or privacy you wish to have with your child and the adoptive parents. Each adoption plan is different – as different as each expectant mother. Your future is bright, and whether you decide on a parenting plan and decide to raise your child or you decide to create an adoption plan, Gladney Center for Adoption is here to answer your questions and offer support.
Further, this support is not finalized at the adoption. Many expectant mothers will ask, “What Happens to Me After Someone Adopts my Child?” Gladney Center for Adoption understands how important this question is for birth mothers. They provide an abundance of post-adoption support for birth mothers. After the delivery of your baby, the Gladney Center for Adoption provides the support you need to meet the goals you set for yourself during the pregnancy or even before. They will help you receive the training you need to meet these goals through job placement, career planning, and finding a place to live. They offer one-on-one counseling by phone and in person. They provide birth mothers support groups with other birth parents to continue to share about your life and your journey of adoption long after the adoption is finalized if you so choose. Gladney provides birth mothers with counseling for a lifetime.
Adoption Agency in Dallas for Hopeful Adoptive Parents
As hopeful adoptive parents looking for an adoption agency in Dallas, Texas, you come across many adoption agencies specializing in private infant domestic adoption, adoption from foster care, and intercountry adoption. The Gladney Center for Adoption is unique in that they specialize in private domestic infant adoption, intercountry or international adoption, and foster to adopt.
If you are interested in intercountry adoption, the Gladney Center for Adoption has three current programs. These are Hague Accredited programs in China, Taiwan, and Colombia. At the start of my career, I worked on the Hague Accreditation and ratification with adoption agencies. Gladney Center for Adoption was on the forefront then, and they continue to be to this day. As a leader in intercountry adoption and one of the first accredited in the United States under the Hague Convention, Gladney Center for Adoption ensures that through the Hague Convention framework, their adoption agency families know they are adopting an orphan and that children find safe, forever families through an ethical, transparent, lawful adoption process. Intercountry adoption is constantly changing. Rules, regulations, timeframes, and countries opened and closed to intercountry adoptions are often in flux. Gladney Center for Adoption can work with you and your hopeful adoptive family to answer your questions about international adoption and the process of bringing a child into your family forever.
Gladney Center for Adoption Foster Adoption
As an adoption agency in Dallas, the Gladney Center for Adoption works with hopeful adoptive parents to adopt children in the Texas foster care system. Through their New Beginnings Program, Gladney works with families and assists the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services by finding forever families in hopeful adoptive parents who can provide that forever home to children waiting in the Texas state foster care system. Gladney does not charge any fees for this program, and neither does the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Further, adoptive families through this New Beginnings Fostering Adoption program receive financial assistance for their adopted children. This can include healthcare, a monthly stipend, and a Texas college tuition waiver for public universities in the state. Gladney Center for Adoption can share more information about this important program and see if it is how you will build your family through adoption.
Gladney Center for Adoption Private Infant Adoption
As a hopeful adoptive parent or an expectant parent, you may be most interested in learning more about Gladney as an adoption agency in Dallas that offers private infant adoption. This is the type of adoption Gladney started with when they were founded in 1887. Every adoption is unique, and Gladney fosters respect for each family, parent, and child in the process. As an adoption agency in Dallas, their goal is to get to know you as an expectant parent or a hopeful adoptive parent and your hopes and dreams. They recognize your situation is unique and your family is unique – but you are not alone. Thousands of families adopt every year, and thousands of women make adoption plans for their babies and children. Reaching out to others who have walked a similar path as you can be helpful. Adoption.com has wonderful adoption forums to connect with birth parents and adoptive families alike.
Through their Domestic Infant Adoption Program, the Gladney Center for Adoption places infants into forever families through the decision of the birth mother who creates an adoption plan based on her desires for her and her baby. Gladney is there to offer guidance and support – never pressure. An expectant mother can change her mind at any time to parent the child or place the child for adoption. She will be supported regardless of the decision she makes for her and her child.
The Gladney Center for Adoption supports the hopeful adoptive parents through assisting in developing their family profile, guidance from experienced staff – both legal and social worker staff – membership in parent support groups, and parenting education.
Deciding on An Adoption Agency in Dallas
As an expectant parent, birth parent, or hopeful adoptive parent researching adoption agencies in Dallas, you will learn a lot of information. It is important during this process to trust your intuition, lean on your support system, and educate yourself as much as you can about your options. Adoption is a lifelong journey regardless of what member of the adoption triad you are – birth parent, adoptive parent, or child. A great adoption agency in Dallas, Texas, like the Gladney Center for Adoption, will hold your hand through every step, answer your questions, provide support, and respect whatever decision you make. They will provide the support you need before you make this important decision, and they will continue to support you through the process and the rest of your life. They recognize the importance of support throughout a lifetime for all members of the adoption triad. They are so well respected because of the level of support and education they provide to expectant parents and adoptive parents alike. By reaching out to Gladney Center for Adoption today, you will take the first step in learning more about adoption, an adoption agency in Dallas, and in deciding whether adoption is right for you!
Considering adoption? Let us help you on your journey to creating your forever family. Visit Adoption.org or call 1-800-ADOPT-98.Jennifer Mellon has worked in the child welfare field for more than a decade, serving in varying capacities as the Executive Director and Chief Development Officer of Joint Council on International Children’s Services (JCICS) and the Corporate Communications Program Manager for the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI). Jennifer has served on the Board of the Campagna Center, which provides critical educational services to children and families in the DC Metro Area and on the Development Committee for the National Council for Adoption. She is the mom of three children and resides in Alexandria, Virginia.