We will provide you with access to the course materials within one business day after your purchase. You may download and keep all PDF training materials forever and may access the course video as frequently as you want to for 6 months from your date of purchase.
Adoption Training to Help You Succeed
We are a leading provider of eLearning adoption courses that are economical and effective. Our adoption training programs are skill-based sessions. You will come away with actionable skills to improve your chances for a faster and safer adoption with the right birth family.
To move from a basic awareness of ideas through their implementation, the following are included with each course:
course notes
exercises
other downloadable materials
Course List:
The Current Generation of Expectant Parents
Understand Them to More Effectively Find and Strike a Connection With Them
A solid understanding of prospective birth parents is the foundation on which everything else you do in adoption is built. Start from a position of understanding and empathy, create additional opportunities to connect with the right expectant parents, and be emotionally and intellectually prepared.
$99.00
Course Description
You already know that there are many more people looking to adopt than there are people making adoption plans. This makes it even more important that you deeply understand today’s generation of expectant parents and do everything you can to strike a meaningful and genuine connection with them. Anything short of this and you will miss opportunities to build your family.
We combined traditional adoption research with broader, non-adoption research on Millennials and Generation Z to bring you this unique course. This approach provides a more robust picture of who you might meet on your adoption journey.
Uncover the facts, develop a more effective adoption strategy, and put yourself in a position for a faster match and healthier long-term relationships.
Takeaways
This course will teach you about today’s generation of expectant parents and will better prepare you to find and build a relationship with them based on understanding, empathy, and respect. The implications to your adoption profile and networking and advertising efforts will surprise you. You will learn about:
- the 6 key influencers that affect whether someone will make an adoption plan and the corresponding characteristics of those who choose adoption
- the Millennial Generation and Generation Z and 6 key takeaways that will affect your profile, outreach efforts, and much more
- the 5 fears that you likely share with expectant parents and how understanding this can help you connect with them
$99.00
The WHAT and HOW of Adoption Profiles
Develop an Adoption Profile that Connects with Expectant Parents
Your adoption profile is the most important element of the entire adoption process. Learn how to create an effective adoption profile that garners attention, pulls readers in, and creates many opportunities for connections to develop.
$99.00
Course Description
Your adoption profile is the most important part of this process because it is the lens through which expectant parents will get to know you. There are thousands of deserving people looking to adopt and your profile MUST stand out from the crowd. If it paints an ineffective picture or looks and feels like all of the others, you will miss opportunities to build your family.
We developed this course based on input from dozens of adoption professionals from across the country and personal experience to help you create an effective and a truly unique adoption profile.
Discover what expectant parents want to know—and how best to communicate it—to increase your chances for a faster match with just the right expectant parents.
Takeaways
As you move through the course and complete the exercises, you will jump-start your adoption profile by identifying what you want to communicate and how best to communicate it. You will also learn how to:
- identify the right information to include in your profile by focusing on the key objective that every profile should strive to achieve (it’s probably not what you think!)
- avoid the traps that adopting parents fall into that cause them to wait for a match much longer than they should
- select the right photos for your profile and accomplish something that few profiles even come close to accomplishing
- write captions for your photos that pull readers deeper into your profile instead of pushing them to the next profile
- tell interesting stories to both engage the reader and increase opportunities for “connections” to develop
$99.00
Adoption Advertising & Networking
Network and Market Yourself Effectively to Adopt More Quickly
Develop a personalized adoption advertising and networking plan that you are comfortable with and can afford and that will increase your chances for a faster adoption.
$99.00
Course Description
If you were looking for a job, you would pursue it with all of the intensity you would show if you were obtaining a degree, buying a house, or even battling infertility. That same focus and determination can lead to a faster adoption.
More people are looking to adopt, but fewer people are making an adoption plan. Furthermore, more expectant parents who make adoption plans are leveraging their own network and the Internet to find adopting parents. If you are not going full speed to make your adoption happen or if you are not where expectant parents are looking, then your adoption plans are at risk.
To create this course, we combined close to 20 years of training, technology, and process expertise with today’s realities of domestic adoption. This training explains to you in a practical and clear way how to network and advertise your desire to adopt. Discover the proven ways, and some newer ways, to find and be found by expectant parents considering adoption.
Takeaways
As you progress through the course, you will ultimately develop your own networking and advertising plan that is based on your comfort level, budget, and skill set. You will also learn:
- how to think about some of the concerns that some adopting parents have about personal outreach
- how to leverage more than 30 effective and mostly free networking and advertising ideas
- 2 distinct ways to leverage Facebook
- the one networking lesson that will exponentially increase the number of people helping you match with expectant parents
$99.00
Be Prepared for Every Email, Call, and Face-to-Face Meeting
“Learning by doing” isn’t good enough when it comes to establishing a relationship with a potential birth parent. Avoid the mistakes that could cost you a match. Be prepared to answer their questions, appropriately ask your own, and properly manage each phase of the process—beginning with first contact.
$99.00
Course Description
After all of that hard work—creating your adoption profile and doing personal networking and advertising, in addition to the efforts of your adoption attorney or agency—you and a potential birth parent have found each other. So now what?
Well, now you need to develop a trusting relationship built on mutual respect and understanding; however, that’s easier said than done. Just the idea of talking with expectant parents makes most adopting parents’ heart rate jump. It can be awkward and scary, but it doesn’t have to be.
Communication is critical and helping you communicate with expectant parents is the purpose of this course. Prepare to answer their questions. Develop your own list of questions and learn when it’s OK to ask them. Discover what you can negotiate and how to BUILD relationships while doing so. This course gives you the knowledge and confidence you need to build a trusting, respectful relationship with your future child’s birth parents.
Takeaways
During this course you will learn how to approach each relationship-building stage—from 1st contact through placement and the end of legal risk. You will be surprised how you can build something so strong from something that starts off so fragile. You will learn about:
- questions to ask expectant parents considering adoption, how and when to ask them, and what NOT to ask
- the 50 common and not-so-common questions that expectant parents may ask YOU
- 7 topics that you must be prepared to discuss with prospective birth parents
- a 3-step process for negotiating with expectant parents that helps you BUILD your relationship with them—not add stress to it
$99.00
Identify Red Flags & Avoid Adoption Scams
Educate Yourself and Adopt Safely
Sometimes it’s good to learn through experience. This is NOT one of those times. Regardless of whether you are pursuing an agency or private adoption, you must be able to distinguish between those adoption professionals and potential birth parents who are trustworthy and those who are simply trying to take advantage of your “I’ll do whatever it takes” desire to adopt.
$99.00
Course Description
You can blame the economy, greed, the Internet, or something else, but the unfortunate reality is that there are “adoption professionals” and “birth parents” out there who are trying to defraud you. The good news is that there are MANY more who are genuine, honest, and trustworthy. The challenge is to know the type of person you’re working with so you can avoid the emotional and financial pain that results from being defrauded.
The content from this course originates from adoptive parents who experienced fraud firsthand. The course shares with you what they wish they would have known when they were going through the process – what would have prevented them from being a victim of fraud.
You’ll learn how to identify the warning signs that something may not be what it appears to be. You’ll learn low-tech and high-tech ways to verify that what people are telling you is true. And finally, you’ll learn specific, practical steps that if taken, will dramatically decrease your chances of being defrauded.
Takeaways
During this course you will learn how to spot the warning signs that an adoption professional or a prospective birth parent is not being honest with you, as well as tips to increase your chances for a safer adoption. You will learn about:
- 23 red flags associated with what we call The Unprofessional Professional, The High Risk Professional, and The “Too Good To Be True” Professional
- 23 red flags tied to potential birth parents
- 6 simple steps that if implemented, will decrease your chances of being defrauded
$99.00
The Current Generation of Expectant Parents
Understand Them to More Effectively Find and Strike a Connection With Them
The foundation on which everything else you do in adoption is built is a solid understanding of prospective birth parents. Start from a position of understanding and empathy, create additional opportunities to connect with the right expectant parents, and be emotionally and intellectually prepared.
$99.00
Course Description
You already know that there are many more people looking to adopt than there are people making adoption plans. This makes it even more important that you deeply understand today’s generation of expectant parents and do everything you can to strike a meaningful and genuine connection with them. Anything short of this and you will miss opportunities to build your family.
We combined traditional adoption research with broader, non-adoption research on Millennials and Generation Z to bring you this unique course. This approach provides a more robust picture of who you might meet on your adoption journey.
Uncover the facts, develop a more effective adoption strategy, and put yourself in a position for a faster match and healthier long-term relationships.
Takeaways
This course will teach you about today’s generation of expectant parents and will better prepare you to find and build a relationship with them based on understanding, empathy, and respect. The implications to your adoption profile and networking and advertising efforts will surprise you. You will learn about:
- the 6 key influencers that affect whether someone will make an adoption plan and the corresponding characteristics of those who choose adoption
- the Millennial Generation and Generation Z and 6 key takeaways that will affect your profile, outreach efforts, and much more
- the 5 fears that you likely share with expectant parents and how understanding this can help you connect with them
The WHAT and HOW of Adoption Profiles
Develop an Adoption Profile that Connects with Expectant Parents
Your adoption profile is the most important element of the entire adoption process. Learn how to create an effective adoption profile that garners attention, pulls readers in, and creates many opportunities for connections to develop.
$99.00
Course Description
Your adoption profile is the most important part of this process because it is the lens through which expectant parents will get to know you. There are thousands of deserving people looking to adopt and your profile MUST stand out from the crowd. If it paints an ineffective picture or looks and feels like all of the others, you will miss opportunities to build your family.
We developed this course based on input from dozens of adoption professionals from across the country and personal experience to help you create an effective and a truly unique adoption profile.
Discover what expectant parents want to know—and how best to communicate it—to increase your chances for a faster match with just the right expectant parents.
Takeaways
As you move through the course and complete the exercises, you will jump-start your adoption profile by identifying what you want to communicate and how best to communicate it. You will also learn how to:
- identify the right information to include in your profile by focusing on the key objective that every profile should strive to achieve (it’s probably not what you think!)
- avoid the traps that adopting parents fall into that cause them to wait for a match much longer than they should
- select the right photos for your profile and accomplish something that few profiles even come close to accomplishing
- write captions for your photos that pull readers deeper into your profile instead of pushing them to the next profile
- tell interesting stories to both engage the reader and increase opportunities for “connections” to develop
Adoption Advertising & Networking
Course Description
If you were looking for a job, you would pursue it with all of the intensity you would show if you were obtaining a degree, buying a house, or even battling infertility. That same focus and determination can lead to a faster adoption.
More people are looking to adopt, but fewer people are making an adoption plan. Furthermore, more expectant parents who make adoption plans are leveraging their own network and the Internet to find adopting parents. If you are not going full speed to make your adoption happen or if you are not where expectant parents are looking, then your adoption plans are at risk.
To create this course, we combined close to 20 years of training, technology, and process expertise with today’s realities of domestic adoption. This training explains to you in a practical and clear way how to network and advertise your desire to adopt. Discover the proven ways, and some newer ways, to find and be found by expectant parents considering adoption.
Takeaways
As you progress through the course, you will ultimately develop your own networking and advertising plan that is based on your comfort level, budget, and skill set. You will also learn:
- how to think about some of the concerns that some adopting parents have about personal outreach
- how to leverage more than 30 effective and mostly free networking and advertising ideas
- 2 distinct ways to leverage Facebook
- the one networking lesson that will exponentially increase the number of people helping you match with expectant parents
Tips for Talking With Expectant Parents
Be Prepared for Every Email, Call, and Face-to-Face Meeting
“Learning by doing” isn’t good enough when it comes to establishing a relationship with a potential birth parent. Avoid the mistakes that could cost you a match. Be prepared to answer their questions, appropriately ask your own, and properly manage each phase of the process – beginning with first contact.
$99.00
Course Description
After all of that hard work—creating your adoption profile and doing personal networking and advertising, in addition to the efforts of your adoption attorney or agency—you and a potential birth parent have found each other. So now what?
Well, now you need to develop a trusting relationship built on mutual respect and understanding; however, that’s easier said than done. Just the idea of talking with expectant parents makes most adopting parents’ heart rate jump. It can be awkward and scary, but it doesn’t have to be.
Communication is critical and helping you communicate with expectant parents is the purpose of this course. Prepare to answer their questions. Develop your own list of questions and learn when it’s OK to ask them. Discover what you can negotiate and how to BUILD relationships while doing so. This course gives you the knowledge and confidence you need to build a trusting, respectful relationship with your future child’s birth parents.
Takeaways
During this course you will learn how to approach each relationship-building stage—from 1st contact through placement and the end of legal risk. You will be surprised how you can build something so strong from something that starts off so fragile. You will learn about:
- questions to ask expectant parents considering adoption, how and when to ask them, and what NOT to ask
- the 50 common and not-so-common questions that expectant parents may ask YOU
- 7 topics that you must be prepared to discuss with prospective birth parents
- a 3-step process for negotiating with expectant parents that helps you BUILD your relationship with them—not add stress to it
Identify Red Flags & Avoid Adoption Scams
Educate Yourself and Adopt Safely
Sometimes it’s good to learn through experience. This is NOT one of those times. Regardless of whether you are pursuing an agency or private adoption, you must be able to distinguish between those adoption professionals and potential birth parents who are trustworthy and those who are simply trying to take advantage of your “I’ll do whatever it takes” desire to adopt.
$99.00
Course Description
You can blame the economy, greed, the Internet, or something else, but the unfortunate reality is that there are “adoption professionals” and “birth parents” out there who are trying to defraud you. The good news is that there are MANY more who are genuine, honest, and trustworthy. The challenge is to know the type of person you’re working with so you can avoid the emotional and financial pain that results from being defrauded.
The content from this course originates from adoptive parents who experienced fraud firsthand. The course shares with you what they wish they would have known when they were going through the process – what would have prevented them from being a victim of fraud.
You’ll learn how to identify the warning signs that something may not be what it appears to be. You’ll learn low-tech and high-tech ways to verify that what people are telling you is true. And finally, you’ll learn specific, practical steps that if taken, will dramatically decrease your chances of being defrauded.
Takeaways
During this course you will learn how to spot the warning signs that an adoption professional or a prospective birth parent is not being honest with you, as well as tips to increase your chances for a safer adoption. You will learn about:
- 23 red flags associated with what we call The Unprofessional Professional, The High Risk Professional, and The “Too Good To Be True” Professional
- 23 red flags tied to potential birth parents
- 6 simple steps that if implemented, will decrease your chances of being defrauded
Several thousand adopting parents and adoption professionals have taken our courses. This is a small sample of what they tell us.
Angela
“I took one of My Adoption Advisor’s courses, Understanding Expectant Parents. It was excellent. It focused on understanding the ‘Millennial Generation’ (20-somethings) so you can create your profile to appeal to them and use social media to attract them. (The median age for birthmothers is 23. I didn’t know that.) It also talks about the family support and how that factors into how your profile should be written and whether an expectant couple will place. This course really goes into detail and presents the latest facts, especially on the social media portion. It definitely gave me a new appreciation/understanding of the expectant parents’ point of view.
I would recommend this course. Hal’s an adoptive parent (twice) with a lot of good information.”
Sarah, Adoption Social Worker
“I completed all of the training courses and wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed them. I especially thought that The WHAT and HOW of Adoption Profiles course would be helpful for adoptive couples. It was interesting to compare our profiles after your training to see what tips the couples picked up from the courses.
I also really liked the first training, Understanding the Current Generation of Expectant Parents. This was helpful to me as a Social Worker, as well! Adoption has changed so much over the years. It was a good reminder to think about the differences of today’s generation even though I’m not much older than many birth parents.
Thanks for all the work you put into this! It’s a great resource for our families.”
Beth Schwartz, Executive Director of Jewish Family Service of Cincinnati
“My Adoption Advisor’s outreach approach has enabled us to bring a true empowerment philosophy into our adoption services work. Our adoptive families don’t wait with us anymore; they work with us…as active, engaged partners in the adoption process.
We are very pleased with our collaboration with My Adoption Advisor and the positive changes that it has brought to our agency and to the people who come to us for services.”
Carolyn
“We recently had the chance to review My Adoption Advisor’s course on Adoption Advertising and Networking. It consists of a narrated slide show and workbook. It takes about 90 minutes to guide listeners toward a practical, personalized adoption outreach plan. The class is highly organized, easy to follow, and succinct. Hal is an excellent teacher, using technology in the best way to get his points across.
I personally liked the suggestions for ‘educating, telling, and asking’ when networking with friends and family. Listening to Hal’s ideas reminded me how we can greatly increase the odds of finding a match with a targeted effort. It is a very empowering presentation.”
Jean
“The training video was excellent! We made a plan and are beginning to put it into use. I wish we had this knowledge when we were approved a year and a half ago! The course materials were easy to use and the content was applicable and easy to apply. I actually went through the video two times already and brought away new ideas each time. Thank you so much!”
Barbara Wentz, Adoption and Pregnancy Counseling Supervisor
“I have had the pleasure of meeting with Hal several times and attending a workshop and viewing one of his online videos. I have been a professional in adoption for 20 years and an adoptive parent for more than 40 years. With all I know about adoption and the adoption process, I still learned new things from Hal through both his workshop and video.”
Kip & Steve
“My partner and I have been waiting for months for a placement and were becoming increasingly frustrated with the domestic adoption process. After taking your course, the light bulb finally went off for us.
You make a compelling argument for WHY adoptive families need to be actively involved with their adoption outreach and you explain how to do it. You provided strategic insight, creative ideas, and actionable tools to implement an adoption outreach effort. I came away feeling empowered, motivated, and hopeful.”
Wendy & Norb
We recently took the adoption networking and advertising course offered by our adoption agency and conducted by Hal at My Adoption Advisor. Let me tell you, it was a great decision!
Wanting to raise a child can be an easy decision, but choosing to adopt a child and going through all of the different steps and facing the different challenges can be very difficult, scary, and intimidating.
After taking this course, we felt much better about the process and what we needed to and should be doing. It provided us with the tools to help us succeed. We would recommend this program to anyone starting the adoption process.
Thanks Hal!”
Lynna
“I wanted to let you know that I took your advice to have people tell people that we are pursuing adoption and my Mom found someone who chose us for her baby. We will be parents in June!”
Kimberly
“The adoption profile course was wonderful. I’ve read everything out there about profiles and even wrote one in the past that worked, but I still had several ‘ah ha’ moments as I listened.”