(15) Hoping to Adopt

Title: Hoping to Adopt: How to Create the Ideal Adoption Profile (Preparing to Adopt) by Russell Elkins
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
38 pages
Genre: adoption,

Synopsis: It’s cliché to say it, but you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Clichés are cliché because they’re true. When a potential birth parent is browsing through profiles, being able to create an ideal first impression is essential for hopeful adoptive parents. An ideal profile can help catch the eye of potential birth parents by more effectively showing how their homes work, look, and feel. Because few (if any) adoption agencies use the “first come, first served” method anymore, some couples are chosen very quickly— but others, who might not have the right tools, wait for years. If you’re hoping to adopt, there are things you can do to greatly increase the odds that you will be one of the couples whose wait is a short one. Not all adoption agencies are the same. Different agencies will have different methods for creating your profile. Some use scrapbooks, others do everything online. Still, others will use a combination of various resources. Some agencies want one profile letter, some want two (one from each of the hopeful adoptive parents). Some ask for the letter to be written in first person, while others prefer third person, and some prefer a combination of the two. Confusing? Yes. Here’s the point: the basic principles will be the same, no matter the style.

Review: Not sure I would call this a book, its more like a long article for sale.  But given its low price and good advice I'd say it was worth the read.  Writing a profile for adoption is a daunting task but this book gives you some great tips.  If you don't have the time to read one of the longer books that are out there on this subject this short 30 page one might be just right.  Learn about what your picture says about you, how to introduce yourselves in your letter, how certain wording portrays you, and how to end your letter.  There is an example at the end of the book and a shameless plug for the author's other books in the text regarding open adoption. All in all though,  Russell Elkins has provided families with good advice and easy tips in a short book that should help anyone get started and for .99 on kindle it is worth it!