Don’t Be Paranoid in Your Adoption Journey

by Mardie Caldwell, C.O.A.P.
Founder of Lifetime Adoption

Most adoption professionals are ethical, so be cautious but not paranoid.

• If a business isn’t listed when you call information, it could mean they’re fairly new and have not yet made it into directory assistance or the yellow page listings.
• If a business is not found, it could be they are not listed in the search engine you are using.  Try others.
• Many legitimate attorneys, facilitators and licensed social workers work out of home offices to control costs.
• If the organization uses answering machines and voice mail systems, remember, for the small business owner, the cost of a receptionist can be prohibitive.
• Adoption professionals sometimes combine their talents, as when agencies use facilitators to find birth mothers. Don’t be alarmed, but check out each member of the team.

Mardie Caldwell, C.O.A.P., is a nationally recognized authority on adoption. A Certified Open Adoption Practitioner, Caldwell is the founder of Lifetime Adoption Center, LLC., established in 1986. Caldwell has assisted in over 1,800 successful adoptions. She was one of the first adoption professionals on the Internet.

Caldwell’s life work has been dedicated to educating and helping birth parents and adoptive parents through teaching, speaking, and resources and as a radio talk show host.

Author of a number of award-winning books, Caldwell has more than 225 media credits to her name, including: Larry King Live, ABC News, NBC’s The Today Show, CNN Headline News, CNN’s The Campbell Brown Show, CBS News, NBC News, KGO Newstalk Radio, CNN’s Black in America II, MSNBC, Fox, PBS, BBC, Dr. Laura, and is widely sought for print articles and speaking engagements.