PRESS RELEASE
– FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –
Media Contact:
Publicist Kate Austin-Avon of Advokate, kate@advokate.net, (518) 353-2121
November is National Adoption Awareness Month
NEW YORK —
National Adoption Month is just around the corner, taking place during the month of November. Friends in Adoption, a not-for-profit adoption agency operating nationwide with offices in Saratoga Springs and Ossining, New York, and Castleton, Vermont, is sharing adoption stories all month with the goal of raising awareness about adoption.
One such story is Colin’s adoption story. He has an open adoption and was interviewed as a high school senior for a video that is posted on Friends in Adoption’s YouTube channel. “It was hard for me at first, but now I understand. I’m the same age as my birth parents were when I was born and I couldn’t possibly take care of a baby right now,” Colin said. “My family is twice as big and twice the amount of love. It’s just amazing. I love it.”
“When I found out I was pregnant, I was 17, and I knew that I was going to make an open adoption plan. I knew that I was definitely not ready to parent, definitely not ready to say goodbye, and it seemed like the perfect option,” says Colin’s birth mother. “I prayed and hoped that Colin would know that it was based in love.” Colin’s full story is one of several that is shared on Friends in Adoption’s YouTube channel.
“We live in Upstate New York with our son Zander and our two dogs. We met in 2002 when I was moving upstate for graduate school and Eric was an undergraduate, and we always knew that we wanted to have a family together,” says Eric, an adoptive father. His husband Eric adds, “We decided to look into adoption… It seemed like the right thing for us.”
John, an adoptive father, says, “Everybody said it before and during and it’s so true — our child came when he came. It was hard along the way, but we got so lucky. [Our son] Thomas is so much fun and so curious. He started walking on his first birthday this year and he just walks around the house all day picking things up, trying to figure them out. You can buy all the toys in the world and his favorite things to play with are lightswitches, dials, buttons and wires.”
Friends in Adoption placed 15 babies in loving families between March 1 and July 31, never skipping a beat when the United States went into shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maureen, an adoptive mom, says, “Working with Friends in Adoption, even during a pandemic, was great — Ryan and I were able to lean on them and their knowledge and expertise about adoption so we could just concentrate on being there with our son and trying to navigate the crazy world of being new parents,” says Maureen, an adoptive mom whose son Max is six months old. “FIA was there to support us and we didn’t have to worry about any of the logistical challenges and could just sit back and not worry about it.”
Many other stories are available on Friends in Adoption’s blog at
www.friendsinadoption.org
and on Friends in Adoption’s YouTube channel,
www.youtube.com/FriendsInAdoption
.
About Friends in Adoption
Friends in Adoption is a licensed, not-for-profit adoption agency with offices in New York and Vermont, founded in 1982. It is a full-service agency built on the core values of empowerment, inclusiveness, openness and lifelong support. Dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion, Friends in Adoption is a recognized leader in supporting and serving LGBTQ+ families. Friends in Adoption has attained annual certification by the Human Rights Campaign since 2013, achieving Innovator status in 2019 and 2020, as recognition of their commitment to providing exceptional service to all individuals, children, and families without discrimination or bias. Friends in Adoption is an adoption educator working with a wide network of attorneys, counselors, clinics and hospitals, providing training, outreach and education. Friends in Adoption believes it is of the utmost importance to listen to and hear the important voices of the adoption triad. For information, visit www.friendsinadoption.org.
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Interviews with adoptive parents as well as FIA’s professional staff are available. See below.
Please contact kate@advokate.net or 518-353-2121 to arrange an interview.
Potential interviewees:
Patty,
Friends In Adoption Senior Case Manager and Community Outreach Provider, adoptive mom
Jean-Charles,
Friends In Adoption Marketing Specialist, adoptive dad
Mary,
Independent Adoption Attorney
Tara,
Friends in Adoption Executive Director
Olivia,
Friends in Adoption Community Outreach and Development Manager
Katie and Billy,
adoptive parents, New York Capital Region
Alison,
birth mother, New York Capital Region
Jen and Steph,
adoptive parents, New York City
Jess and Gordon,
adoptive parents, Buffalo, NY
Jen and Dan,
adoptive parents, New York City and New York Capital Region
Matt and Erica,
adoptive parents, Westchester County, NY
Eric and Eric,
adoptive parents, New York Capital Region