Host: Why is it important for adoptive parents to find an agency that supports birthparents?

Sarah Mejac: I think it's very important for an adoptive family or potential adoptive family to seek out an agency that provides really good services and treats birthparents with compassionate and professional and above board practices, simply because when you adopt you want that adoption to be the best adoption possible, and you ultimately are talking about that adoption following your child throughout their lifetime. You want to have a respectful approach toward birthparents, because these are the people that your child comes from. You want that birthparent to be feeling that their needs are at focus of the process that though the choice, though it maybe very hard to place a child for adoption and separate from that child, is made with full information and full disclosure. From an ethical standpoint you want that simply because you want to know that that person is receiving care and receiving honor and respect during the process as well as afterward, but also from almost of legal standpoint that if certain rights or certain aspects are not covered, the actual adoption can be called into question, if a birthfather is not properly contacted or if a birthmother was not informed of certain of her rights, but that you would never want that to happen.

Having respectful treatment and excellent counseling is going to make it possible for a woman to come to a very well-informed and well thought-out decision and she is going to feel really secure in that decision and that is a big piece that many people worry about in adoption is, many people believe that, the birthmother or the birthparents can change their mind at any time and that s not true. It's that everyone needs to be working with the same ethical and professional attitudes toward making sure everyone s rights are respected and making sure that people get that counseling that they need or any other type of support that is available.