Choosing the family of your dreams for your baby

In recent years, adoption has changed dramatically. No longer is it a world of closed files, closed doors and closed minds. In the past, a faceless agency would choose the "right" parents for your child, and birth parents rarely knew who would be shaping their child's future. Today, your loving decision to secure a better future for your child extends to choosing her adoptive parents, the people who will give shape and meaning to her life. Today, adoption gives you the opportunity to make your love known to your child throughout her life. While you may not be there to guide her, you will certainly set the course she will travel.

Choosing your son or daughter's adoptive parents will not be easy. An important first step is realizing that the decisions you make will affect your child forever. Take your time and live with that thought. Let it guide you.

Identifying the factors on which to base your decision is also necessary. Here are some adoptive parent factors you may want to consider. You'll very likely have some of your own, not on this list, that are very personal to you.

And, of course, the "X Factor": that sense of connectedness and well-being you feel when you meet the right adoptive parents.

We encourage you to make a list of what's important to you in your search for the shapers of your child's future. Play an active role. Ask questions. Dig below the surface. Be comfortable in your decision.

Your choice will reflect your love always.