Graceful Adoptions

This agency was referred to us through a family member. On the positive side, the owner took a couple of calls from us over a weekend and answered all of our questions. It went downhill once she handed us over to her team.

We went through their screening process and the screening was at best, unprofessional. We were asked questions such as, “What would you do if your 16 year old daughter told you, ‘You’re not my real parents anyway!’” “What would you do if your child were diagnosed with autism?” “What would you do if your 8 year old son didn’t want to meet up with his birth parents for a scheduled visit?” In any of these situations, we felt that parenting isn’t just this straight forward — there is context, history, etc. that must be considered to make the right call. No matter our answer, there were inappropriate follow up questions and responses and it was clear that our answers didn’t meet their prescribed list of allowable answers.
In any of the situations above our response was to determine what was in the best interest of the child — what might be driving the behavior, how might we help them process through emotions, etc.

The screen further went into discussing our reaction to instructions about how to handle the hospital situation at the birth. We talked about not making critical changes to the adoption plan during this emotional time. We asked if this same approach was taken with birth parents — to hold off on any changes until after the hospital. The response from the screening team was, “We tell the birth parents what we need to in order to reach the end goal.” This was a second red flag. Finally, they made it a point to say that their agency is a “birth parent centered agency”. I have no issues with putting special focus on the amazing parents who choose adoption. We love the moms who chose us and made us parents — we hold them in high regard! For us, we were looking for a child-centered agency where both the birth family and the adoptive family collaborated to finding the right plan for the child and the families.

Ultimately our questions and responses resulted in being screened out. Before we got this answer, we had already decided we weren’t interested in working with an agency that appeared to treat their birth moms with such little regard (I.e. telling them what you need to in order to reach an end goal). I shared this with the owner who insisted this wasn’t the case. She further told me that there wasn’t a birth mom that would choose me and my husband so they declined to work with us.

In the end, we don’t have hard feelings. I believe that people have good experiences with this agency. Ours just happened to not be one of them. We worked with a different agency and were matched with a birth mom 6 weeks after getting our profile posted with that agency. We’ve subsequently been matched with 4 more birth moms and have a beautiful family. For those adoptive families who get the “rejection” from the screening process, I encourage you to find an agency that fits you — there are many wonderful ones out there to make your dreams come true.

Our family successfully adopted a newborn through Graceful Adoptions. From our first call with Karen, she was open and honest, and clearly dedicated to her clients. Graceful Adoptions worked closely with us throughout the process, and was always a phone call away. They were present through the ups and the downs in our journey; crying, laughing, anticipating, and sometimes, just plain waiting with us. While so much of this journey was out of our (and the agency’s) control, we felt consistently informed, updated, heard, and seen.

Karen shows such passion and determination in creating beautiful families and finding the best outcomes for everyone involved in the adoption. She fiercely advocates for birth mothers and has exemplified her commitment to their well-being and success.

With assurance for a placement, Graceful Adoptions worked tirelessly to help us become parents. The birthmother we were matched with is amazing – smart, funny, beautiful, thoughtful, and loving. She will always hold such an honored place in our family’s hearts and lives.

We’re thankful we chose this agency that takes a personal interest in our story. We absolutely recommend Graceful Adoptions, and are thankful for their invaluable role in growing our family and bringing our daughter home!

Absolutely do NOT use this agency! It took me 8 months to calm down enough to write this review. We started the adoption process in 2016. 2 and a half years later we had spent $31,596 with nothing but heartbreak to show for it. When we asked for the "guaranteed refund" she offered us $12,000. When we had the audacity to ask for more back she blamed us for the birth mother backing out because that way the refund policy is voided. Karen is a complete hack. Use ANY other agency and you will be much, much better off.

Side note: the agency was great until July 2017 when Lacey quit. Karen has absolutely no idea how to run a business.

In response to Karen's reply: we were matched with 4; one of which we refused due to it being a 45 year old mother with absolutely no information on the health of the child and we had 3 hours to make a decision. We were NEVER given 15 profiles!!! Once again we were given 4 profiles in 2.5 years... she kept telling us "well I have a mother that should be looking at families soon" or "you guys are too perfect to not match soon". Karen is such a crook.

Graceful adoptions is a great and wonderful company, but they aren’t just a company to me! I’ve worked with Miss Karen before and am now working with her again! She makes me feel like family, she has took all my stress and worries and taught me how to deal with them, if not forget them! She helped me with so many things from support when I was 15 to now and I’m 20!! She said she will always be a person I could count on, she has proved that!! If you need a great and loving environment for adoption Graceful Adoptions is the family who will make you feel at ease and at home!!

I gave my baby up for adoption through this adoption agency and at first it seemed like they were on my side and that this was my choice. they say the have certified counselors but they counselor couldn't tell I wasn't mentally competent to make this decision. I said I changed my mind well within my 96 hours and I've been fighting everyday to get my baby back. they ignored me and wouldn't acknowledge that I had revoked my consent and wanted my baby back. I made an appointment to talk with their "certified" counselor and they blew me off. now I'm just a women who was tricked and lied to by this agency and all I want is my Dakotabear back and I will fight everyday for the rest of my life to make sure no one ever gets hurts by this agency again. DO NOT TRUST THEM.