Through the use of social media (primarily Facebook), I tried to gauge how prospective and recent adoptive parents have used the Internet and social media to spread the word of their plans to adopt. Respondents were asked to contact me publicly or privately if they wished to share their experiences. I am also in the process of conducting a more in-depth study through a Qualtrics survey that I developed, which will be open until 11:59 PM on Tuesday night, April 29th. Please feel free to take the survey if you have adopted an infant domestically, regardless of how long ago you adopted, or pass it to friends. The data collected from the survey will include other relevant information about how adoptive parents are using all forms of media in hopes of matching with potential birth parents.
One woman who responded to my request for feedback via Facebook advised, “We were matched after only two weeks and $20 worth of advertising through fb (Facebook) advertising!” This is terrific news, but it is also uncommon to spend so little and be matched so quickly through social media.
A male respondent who is adopting as part of a same-sex couple emailed me with the following feedback: “We are currently only using Craigslist to promote our adoption goals. Results have been lackluster. This will be our first adoption so hopefully we will find a birth mother that is a match.”
A woman who recently successfully adopted emailed and provided some wonderful feedback:
We adopted our son as a newborn in August 2013. From start to finish it was a two-year process. Initially, we utilized a lot of social media (ads on Facebook, online placements, Twitter… my professional background is in marketing and tech so thought I could easily do this) and connected within a couple of months with a potential expectant mom in California (we are in Washington). It turned out that we think she was never pregnant. And the experience made us almost walk away from wanting to adopt. We took about 8 months off and in the interim told local people what had happened and asked for help if they ever heard of anything that might be a fit. Turns out we got connected with our son’s birth mom in June and in August became a family of three. Our adoption story was through personal connection v. social media but imagine there are many examples where people expand their network of people helping them through social connections.
Lori and Jeff have not paid for any ads since November of 2013. They were placing newspaper ads that were costly and not pulling much response. Their Tumblr page resulted in a match in November, but the match fell through when the expectant mother decided to parent. They are currently matched with a baby due in late May. This expectant mom used Google and found their adoption website. Lori and Jeff have been keeping up with all their social media sites and although it’s time consuming, it has paid off.
Some are upset seeing ads on Facebook from couples hoping to adopt a baby. This is nothing new, as a segment of the population finds similar print ads in newspapers offensive. From the perspective of hopeful adoptive parents, the Internet and social media are useful tools which will quickly, effectively and inexpensively let the world know they hope to adopt a baby. Even those who are using an adoption agency are advised to expand their reach and integrate technology as much as possible. In 2014, it’s the norm, rather than the exception, that hopeful adoptive parents use technology to expand their reach when hoping to adopt. If you rely on personal networking and print ads, you are at disadvantage. Domestic adoption is very competitive right now and it’s important to use every tool available to you.
In a few weeks, I will share the results of my survey to adoptive parents and am excited to see what light my research will shed on this rather new, but important trend of taking your adoption journey online.
*Photo courtesy of Flickr.
Searching for Juno 