Collaborative adoption combines some features of both direct placement and agency adoptions. In a collaborative adoption, an adoption agency agrees to place the baby with the family chosen by the birth mother. The agency completes a home study of the adopting parents before the baby’s birth, and can, therefore, accept final relinquishments from the birth parents promptly.

There are several advantages to Collaborative Adoption, including:

• The parties to a collaborative adoption may still know one another, often with the help of an attorney.
• The baby goes directly home from the hospital with the adopting parents. There is no foster care.

I enjoy fruitful collaborative adoption relationships with many excellent licensed adoption agencies, such as Vista Del Mar in West Los Angeles, Adoption Connection and the Family Network in Northern California, Catholic Welfare in San Diego, Adoptions Unlimited in Chino, and many excellent agencies outside of California.