National Network Parent Match™ Helping Families Adopt Faster

MENDHAM, N.J., May 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Jamie and Brad of Kentucky are the proud parents of a new baby, but the journey they took to get there would not have been possible even just a year ago. Adopting typically takes years, but for Jamie and Brad it was mere weeks, thanks to breakthrough innovations for adoption professionals.

Last fall, the couple turned to Heart to Home Adoption Agency in Kentucky after more than two years of struggling with infertility. They spent two months completing the background checks required and were officially ready to be matched in October 2011. Knowing the typical process stretches at least one or two years, Brad and Jamie knew to expect to wait.

But Brad and Jamie were in a different situation than many adopting families. Heart to Home had recently joined Parent Match™, a new system that connects its members to other agencies and adoption attorneys across the country. The couple was shocked when they received "the call" on December 29th, just weeks after their wait had begun. Their agency had matched them to a baby identified through Parent Match.

"We couldn't believe it," says Jamie. "We got the call just days after Christmas. It was the most amazing gift. After more than two years of struggling with infertility, we made the decision that adoption was the right path for us, knowing it would likely take as much as another two years of waiting. Instead it was just two months. We were amazed."

Their experience highlights how domestic adoption is changing. Families eager to adopt are finding the domestic adoption process is getting a bit easier, thanks in part to an influx of new technologies in recent years. Parents are finding a smoother process and shorter wait times as adoption professionals embrace the power of online technology.

"We have been so pleased to have a resource like Parent Match to add to the services we provide to our clients," says Leigh Shapiro-Walton at Heart to Home Adoption Agency. "Parent Match helps us not only connect with other agencies from around the country easily, which can help cut wait times, but can also be tremendously useful in identifying the right match between parents and child. The happy result is quickly finding the right home for a child."

Parent Match has created an entirely new way for agencies to connect with each other safely, easily and, most importantly, confidentially. In the past, an agency in Oregon with more adopting parents than adoptable children had little ability to quickly learn about another agency in Virginia with more adoptable children than adopting parents. Likewise, an expectant mother who had specific wishes for the family she wanted for her child was too often faced with choices more limited than she deserved.

"The inability for adoption agencies to connect with each other reliably and quickly on behalf of their clients made creating a match more difficult for all involved," says Lori Barer Ingber, Ph.D., Founder and President of Parent Match. "Jamie and Brad's experience shows what is possible when agencies use technology to connect seamlessly in real time."

"We've been thrilled with how quickly agencies are embracing this technology," says Ingber. "We've had agencies from the largest to the smallest sign on and they are making new connections every day."

About Parent Match™
Parent Match is the nation's first and only national professional network for domestic adoption professionals. Parent Match is an independent, private, online network for adoption agencies and attorneys to share information. Parent Match is not an adoption agency or adoption facilitator. The Parent Match database is accessible to licensed adoption agencies and attorneys only. Parent Match is a monthly subscription service and does not work directly with adoptive or birth parents. Agencies pay a small monthly fee for unlimited access to the network. No other fees or charges are involved.

More information can be found at www.parentmatch.com. Find Parent Match on Facebook or by following @parentmatch on Twitter.

SOURCE Parent Match