project baby: here's where you come in

I’ve always hated the concept of networking. I picture a bunch of dudes in suits with shiny teeth and ulterior motives exchanging business cards—in other words, that scene in American Psycho. That’s not what you want if you work at a nice little nonprofit (which is why we in the 501(c)3 field call it “community building”). And that’s definitely not what you want if you’re trying to adopt a baby.

Nevertheless, our open adoption agency frequently reminds us that ten percent of matches between adoptive parents and birth parents are made via personal networking (as opposed to the agency sending out our profile). So we’ve done what any loving parents-to-be would do, and created a Facebook page.

All you’ve got to do is:

1) Log in to Facebook, go here and click “like.”

2) Share the link with your friends.

Maybe you (or one of your friends) is a high school teacher who has a student who recently peed on a stick and did not get the result she was hoping for (I can totally relate, although in a flip-flopped way). Maybe you’re a doctor with a patient who wants to find a stable and loving home for that blur on the ultrasound monitor. Maybe you, person on the internet who might be reading this, are pregnant yourself. If so, let us introduce ourselves.

We are two friendly women in our thirties, white and Latina, who want to adopt openly. Open adoption means the birthmother gets to decide who will raise her child, and she gets to stay in touch with the child as he or she grows up. The birthmother never has to wonder how her baby is doing, her kid never has to wonder about his or her roots, and the adoptive parents get to be honest with their kid right from the start.

A pretty good deal for everyone, don’t you think?

I’m so grateful to all of you who’ve helped us through the emotional roller coaster that is Project Baby. This is the happy part, where there’s actually something concrete you can do to help (see above). And unlike when you “like” a Save The Whales page or something, this could actually accomplish something. And if you link us to a birthparent, we promise not to ask you to babysit too often.