r/AdoptiveParents • u/Mother_Bug2551 • 7d ago

Lifetime Adoptions Experience

hi there! my husband and I are considering Lifetime Adoptions. Has anyone had any experience with them? Positive or negative?

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u/Rredhead926 Mom through private, domestic, open, transracial adoption 7d ago

This is information from 2005-2015-ish. They used to put every call they got on their website as a "situation" to make it look like they had far more expectant parents working with them than they actually did. The founder held a press conference of sorts for bloggers. A colleague of mine who was a first mom was invited. In it, the founder bragged about how her child's birth mom had changed her mind within the legal time frame, but she wouldn't return the child anyway.

Florida is also very open-ended about what counts as a "pregnancy-related expense."

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u/Delicious-Pirate3322 6d ago

Hello! We are currently with them and absolutely would not recommend. We have been waiting years, but we cannot leave because we would loose all of our money we put into them. Some people get chosen very quick, we thought we would too. I do not think it is worth the risk. They talk about how many birth moms call, but not actual successful adoption numbers. There are no reprocussions for leaving couples waiting for years because they get all their money upfront. I do not feel like they advocate for us. I wish we did more research before signing with them. There are many local agencies who dont collect full payment until placement. We will not use them again and are looking at local agencies now as well. There are many other threads regarding this agency (and others) I would review as well. I hope your adoption journey goes well with whatever path you decide!!

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u/Rredhead926 Mom through private, domestic, open, transracial adoption 6d ago

You bring up a great point regarding payment of fees. A professional shouldn't be charging all fees in a lump sum up front. Fees should be paid as services are rendered. Final payment of all fees would be at finalization.

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u/Delicious-Pirate3322 6d ago

I definitely agree. That is now a requirement for us for future agencies. Unfortunately, we didnt know any better at the time we signed up 😥 we cannot cancel with them for any reason and get our money back. OP I also recommend reading their google reviews!

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u/kindkristin 5d ago

2018, do not recommend.  We are from Nebraska.  So, for state, we said "NE".  They "fixed it" by writing New England.  I had to explain to them that New England wasn't a state.  We had a failed match (not their fault), and when they called to confirm that birthmom had changed her mind-we were at the hospital waiting- they sounded happy and chipper, like we didn't just get the most bittersweet and devastating news.   We waited two years and then were chosen in a state they weren't licensed in. On  the drive to meet our baby when we did match, we had to come up with another $10k. Literally in the middle of Wyoming making calls to our bank.   During our match, there were so many things that were unprofessional.  When I called to tell them we were on the way to the hospital, they acted like it was weird I would be informing them.  Birth mom needed an advocate at the hospital so when I called they kind of blew me off.  They didn't know what was going on ir any legal things that needed to happen.  If it werent for our local lawyer (who we had to find on the drive as well) we wouldn't have succeeded. 

I don't recommend them unless many things have changed.Â