July 31, 2024 • 11 mins
We have helped build beautiful families since 1985.As a trusted non-profit adoption agency, we work with people all across the USA and are licensed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Virginia, and Connecticut. https://afth.org/
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
And welcome in This is the Heart of Pittsburgh podcast.
I'm your host Johnny Hartwell. On the zoom line with
me is Jones Smith from Adoptions from the Heart. We
talked last year around this time. It's good to see
you again. How are you.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
I'm good, Johnny, I'm good. How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:24):
I'm fantastic. But let's start here. Tell us everything we
need to know about Adoptions from the Heart.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Adoptions from the Heart is a nonprofit, full service adoption agency.
We have been around since nineteen eighty five. We were
formed by an adoptee, herself Maxim Chalker, who is our founder,
and she created the agency to support open adoption. We're
(00:51):
actually one of the first on the East Coast to
facilitate open adoption as compared to closed adoptions.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
What is the difference between open and then closed adoptions
and why is that important?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, closed adoption was when someone placed a child and
they knew nothing of what happened to that child after
they placed. They did not know how the child was
doing anything about them. So open adoption allows the birth
parents or birth family to find out how their child
is doing throughout their life. It is communication between adopted
(01:27):
parents and birth parents, and this is done really for
the benefit of the child, so that the child knows
where they came from and can know things about their
birth family that in traditional adoptions they would not have known.
So it's communication between both parties, and that communication is
(01:48):
really determined by what the birth parent wishes. So it
may be receiving pictures and letters of how the child
is doing, and this is for eighteen years of the
child's life, so they're an adult. Pictures, letters, visits with
the adopted parents and the child throughout their eighteen years
(02:08):
and those visits right now, we require our adoptive families
to have minimal of two visits a year, so visits
they may want, email, contact, phone, texting, contact just depends
whatever the birth parents are looking at. We will have
them matched with a family of their choosing that is
(02:30):
agreeable to the same kind of contact.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Do you think the outcomes are better that way?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Absolutely they are, absolutely, and many studies have been done
on this. But we see it as an agency. The
difference throughout the years because we've opened it up way
more than it ever was to start with. We started
with just pictures and letters that birth parents could receive.
We've added to the visits and that we've added the
(02:59):
phone contact and it has made a tremendous amount of
difference for everyone involved, especially the child. I mean, that's
your biggest thing, because they have a right to know
if they want to, where they came from, their culture.
There may be a cultural difference, there may be a
racial difference between adoptive parents and birth parents, and it's
(03:20):
important for them to have that having questions that somebody
can't answer, like with traditional adoptions, when they can't get
the answer, there's a lot more stress. That ambiguity is
just so detrimental on the birth, on the child, So
it has helped. It helps birth parents so that they
(03:43):
know their child is doing well. You know, you give
birth to a child and to not know how they're
doing is just that's not a good thing. So it
gives them that openness to know their child is doing well.
And the adoptive parents and also by forming a relationship,
it allows them to find out more about the birth family.
(04:06):
It may be medical in nature. You know, we all
get things as we get older, right, certain genetic factors
kick in, and it's important for them to have that
kind of medical history on their child. So they know
what to look for.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
You know, we introduced your organization a nonprofit organization. But
let me ask you. If there's somebody who is pregnant
and is considering giving up their child for adoption, or
if there's somebody who is interested in adopting, what's the process?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Okay, Well, if you're a birth parent or an expected parent,
and I say birth parent because maybe it's somebody that's
parenting a child, maybe a toddler, and they're maybe they're
at the point that they just cannot continue to parent. So,
whether you are somebody that is pregnant or maybe have
(04:55):
a young child and you're looking at what are my options?
The first thing you want to do is call us
or contact us through our website. Website is AFT dot
org stands for Adoptions from the Heart aftch dot org.
We do also have a toll free number which is
(05:16):
eight hundred three five five fifty five hundred one way
or another. Put in a call, find out information, ask
for information, ask for you know, where do I start?
Because your first step really is a birth parent, is
to connect with one of our social workers that is
close to where you're at and they can guide you.
(05:38):
They're going to provide counseling to see if this is
really something that is in the best interest of the child.
We're not here to tell you you you need to
do adoption, you need to place your child. We're here
to counsel you. A lot of what we do is
counseling to figure out is this what you want to do?
(05:59):
You know or are there their options? Are there some more,
maybe more community resources may help you as a parent.
So we're going to counsel you. The social worker will
will meet with you, explain things. And one thing to
keep in mind is that you are not obligated to
place your child. Whether we meet with you for months
(06:20):
on end, we talk to you, you're not obligated to
place your child. Ultimately, we want this to be your choice,
so keep that in mind. Get as much information as
you can see if this seems like the right plan
for you. If you are an adopted parent, you can
again call us, go to our website quest information because
(06:41):
we're going to tell you all the ins and outs
everything related to adoption, because we want to make sure
that you're prepared. Because it is a it is a process.
It's not easy for the adoptive parents. They have to
go through what we call a home study. They have
to get approved for adoption, and then they take inform
(07:03):
educational classes with us because we want them to understand
all the ins and outs of adoption, So connecting with
a social worker will be their first thing, and we
will guide them throughout the process. We are there at
placement if this is happening. Most times for us, it's
happening at a hospital. A social worker will be there
(07:25):
to facilitate the whole process at the hospital, and then
we see the baby after a baby or child once
the adoptive parents are placed, and we do follow up
visits and things that we have to do for court
as well. We follow this through until finalization. Keep in
mind too, though, whether you are an adoptive parent or
(07:47):
a birth parent, we have support groups for both on
we have workshops for both, and we have a mentoring
program for birth parents that we have some that are
kind of helping the mentors and the mentees. So there
are a lot of factors. It's not just replacing a child,
(08:08):
you know, Adoptive parents and birth parents will both get support. Also,
we have rather newer is our Adoptee support group. So
for adoptees who are age of fifteen and older, we
welcome them to come to our monthly support groups. That
support group is run by two adoptees themselves who are
(08:29):
also workers social workers here at our agency, and that's invaluable.
It just gives adoptees a place where they can talk
if they're having issues anything at all, just support groups,
to know that you are surrounded and there's assistance available
to you.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
All right, We talked a little bit about the Ocean
adoptions and if somebody is you know, interested in you know,
either adopting or giving up their baby or something like that.
But what is the one thing you want people to
know about youranization?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
I want you to know, and I want to touch
real quickly on this is that expected and birth fathers
are a big part of this as well. So I
mentioned expected moms also expected fathers. We want to hear
from you your important piece of this, and we we
want to know that you're on board with placing a child.
We want you to know that there's no pressure. There's
(09:23):
no pressure and there's no judgment. If you decide you
want to move forward with adoption, that's fine, and if
you do not, that's fine too. We want this to
be your choice.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
And you have a lot of information on your website.
What are some things on the website you want people
to know about. What are some of the things that
they should that that will help them reach the decision
to maybe contact you guys.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
I think the biggest part is the open adoption piece,
and that's something we've always practiced. If you if you
look at it, go to our website, you're going to
see a list of waiting family that are waiting to
be placed with a child. Expected parents, birth parents can
look through the waiting families. It gives you an idea
(10:08):
of the families that we have here. You can see
the different amounts of education that we have. But I
think I would focus on the the openness and that
our agency is very open in explaining the process what
it entails, and we're we want your questions. So any
(10:28):
time that you look at it you have questions about anything,
we want you to call us art.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
The website is www dot A, F, T H dot org.
But you mentioned the phone number, what are what are
the phone numbers that they that can reach you?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Hey, we have toll free is eight hundred three five
five fifty five hundred and that is for phone calls texting.
We also welcome texting. It is six one oh seven
eight seven, two four five three.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Now, the adoption process couldn't be scary, but you're not alone.
There is zero pressure and no judgment. And if you're
interested in getting more information on adoptions from the Heart,
the website once again is a f t H dot org.
That's a f t H dot org. Joan, it was
a pleasure talking to you again. Good luck in the
(11:20):
in the in the future, and hopefully we'll talk again.
Thank you so much, Thank you, Johnny. This has been
the Heart of Pittsburgh Podcast. I'm your host, Johnny heart Well,
thank you so much for listening.
And welcome in This is the Heart of Pittsburgh podcast.
I'm your host Johnny Hartwell. On the zoom line with
me is Jones Smith from Adoptions from the Heart. We
talked last year around this time. It's good to see
you again. How are you.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
I'm good, Johnny, I'm good. How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:24):
I'm fantastic. But let's start here. Tell us everything we
need to know about Adoptions from the Heart.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Adoptions from the Heart is a nonprofit, full service adoption agency.
We have been around since nineteen eighty five. We were
formed by an adoptee, herself Maxim Chalker, who is our founder,
and she created the agency to support open adoption. We're
(00:51):
actually one of the first on the East Coast to
facilitate open adoption as compared to closed adoptions.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
What is the difference between open and then closed adoptions
and why is that important?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, closed adoption was when someone placed a child and
they knew nothing of what happened to that child after
they placed. They did not know how the child was
doing anything about them. So open adoption allows the birth
parents or birth family to find out how their child
is doing throughout their life. It is communication between adopted
(01:27):
parents and birth parents, and this is done really for
the benefit of the child, so that the child knows
where they came from and can know things about their
birth family that in traditional adoptions they would not have known.
So it's communication between both parties, and that communication is
(01:48):
really determined by what the birth parent wishes. So it
may be receiving pictures and letters of how the child
is doing, and this is for eighteen years of the
child's life, so they're an adult. Pictures, letters, visits with
the adopted parents and the child throughout their eighteen years
(02:08):
and those visits right now, we require our adoptive families
to have minimal of two visits a year, so visits
they may want, email, contact, phone, texting, contact just depends
whatever the birth parents are looking at. We will have
them matched with a family of their choosing that is
(02:30):
agreeable to the same kind of contact.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Do you think the outcomes are better that way?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Absolutely they are, absolutely, and many studies have been done
on this. But we see it as an agency. The
difference throughout the years because we've opened it up way
more than it ever was to start with. We started
with just pictures and letters that birth parents could receive.
We've added to the visits and that we've added the
(02:59):
phone contact and it has made a tremendous amount of
difference for everyone involved, especially the child. I mean, that's
your biggest thing, because they have a right to know
if they want to, where they came from, their culture.
There may be a cultural difference, there may be a
racial difference between adoptive parents and birth parents, and it's
(03:20):
important for them to have that having questions that somebody
can't answer, like with traditional adoptions, when they can't get
the answer, there's a lot more stress. That ambiguity is
just so detrimental on the birth, on the child, So
it has helped. It helps birth parents so that they
(03:43):
know their child is doing well. You know, you give
birth to a child and to not know how they're
doing is just that's not a good thing. So it
gives them that openness to know their child is doing well.
And the adoptive parents and also by forming a relationship,
it allows them to find out more about the birth family.
(04:06):
It may be medical in nature. You know, we all
get things as we get older, right, certain genetic factors
kick in, and it's important for them to have that
kind of medical history on their child. So they know
what to look for.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
You know, we introduced your organization a nonprofit organization. But
let me ask you. If there's somebody who is pregnant
and is considering giving up their child for adoption, or
if there's somebody who is interested in adopting, what's the process?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Okay, Well, if you're a birth parent or an expected parent,
and I say birth parent because maybe it's somebody that's
parenting a child, maybe a toddler, and they're maybe they're
at the point that they just cannot continue to parent. So,
whether you are somebody that is pregnant or maybe have
(04:55):
a young child and you're looking at what are my options?
The first thing you want to do is call us
or contact us through our website. Website is AFT dot
org stands for Adoptions from the Heart aftch dot org.
We do also have a toll free number which is
(05:16):
eight hundred three five five fifty five hundred one way
or another. Put in a call, find out information, ask
for information, ask for you know, where do I start?
Because your first step really is a birth parent, is
to connect with one of our social workers that is
close to where you're at and they can guide you.
(05:38):
They're going to provide counseling to see if this is
really something that is in the best interest of the child.
We're not here to tell you you you need to
do adoption, you need to place your child. We're here
to counsel you. A lot of what we do is
counseling to figure out is this what you want to do?
(05:59):
You know or are there their options? Are there some more,
maybe more community resources may help you as a parent.
So we're going to counsel you. The social worker will
will meet with you, explain things. And one thing to
keep in mind is that you are not obligated to
place your child. Whether we meet with you for months
(06:20):
on end, we talk to you, you're not obligated to
place your child. Ultimately, we want this to be your choice,
so keep that in mind. Get as much information as
you can see if this seems like the right plan
for you. If you are an adopted parent, you can
again call us, go to our website quest information because
(06:41):
we're going to tell you all the ins and outs
everything related to adoption, because we want to make sure
that you're prepared. Because it is a it is a process.
It's not easy for the adoptive parents. They have to
go through what we call a home study. They have
to get approved for adoption, and then they take inform
(07:03):
educational classes with us because we want them to understand
all the ins and outs of adoption, So connecting with
a social worker will be their first thing, and we
will guide them throughout the process. We are there at
placement if this is happening. Most times for us, it's
happening at a hospital. A social worker will be there
(07:25):
to facilitate the whole process at the hospital, and then
we see the baby after a baby or child once
the adoptive parents are placed, and we do follow up
visits and things that we have to do for court
as well. We follow this through until finalization. Keep in
mind too, though, whether you are an adoptive parent or
(07:47):
a birth parent, we have support groups for both on
we have workshops for both, and we have a mentoring
program for birth parents that we have some that are
kind of helping the mentors and the mentees. So there
are a lot of factors. It's not just replacing a child,
(08:08):
you know, Adoptive parents and birth parents will both get support. Also,
we have rather newer is our Adoptee support group. So
for adoptees who are age of fifteen and older, we
welcome them to come to our monthly support groups. That
support group is run by two adoptees themselves who are
(08:29):
also workers social workers here at our agency, and that's invaluable.
It just gives adoptees a place where they can talk
if they're having issues anything at all, just support groups,
to know that you are surrounded and there's assistance available
to you.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
All right, We talked a little bit about the Ocean
adoptions and if somebody is you know, interested in you know,
either adopting or giving up their baby or something like that.
But what is the one thing you want people to
know about youranization?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
I want you to know, and I want to touch
real quickly on this is that expected and birth fathers
are a big part of this as well. So I
mentioned expected moms also expected fathers. We want to hear
from you your important piece of this, and we we
want to know that you're on board with placing a child.
We want you to know that there's no pressure. There's
(09:23):
no pressure and there's no judgment. If you decide you
want to move forward with adoption, that's fine, and if
you do not, that's fine too. We want this to
be your choice.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
And you have a lot of information on your website.
What are some things on the website you want people
to know about. What are some of the things that
they should that that will help them reach the decision
to maybe contact you guys.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
I think the biggest part is the open adoption piece,
and that's something we've always practiced. If you if you
look at it, go to our website, you're going to
see a list of waiting family that are waiting to
be placed with a child. Expected parents, birth parents can
look through the waiting families. It gives you an idea
(10:08):
of the families that we have here. You can see
the different amounts of education that we have. But I
think I would focus on the the openness and that
our agency is very open in explaining the process what
it entails, and we're we want your questions. So any
(10:28):
time that you look at it you have questions about anything,
we want you to call us art.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
The website is www dot A, F, T H dot org.
But you mentioned the phone number, what are what are
the phone numbers that they that can reach you?
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Hey, we have toll free is eight hundred three five
five fifty five hundred and that is for phone calls texting.
We also welcome texting. It is six one oh seven
eight seven, two four five three.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Now, the adoption process couldn't be scary, but you're not alone.
There is zero pressure and no judgment. And if you're
interested in getting more information on adoptions from the Heart,
the website once again is a f t H dot org.
That's a f t H dot org. Joan, it was
a pleasure talking to you again. Good luck in the
(11:20):
in the in the future, and hopefully we'll talk again.
Thank you so much, Thank you, Johnny. This has been
the Heart of Pittsburgh Podcast. I'm your host, Johnny heart Well,
thank you so much for listening.
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