There are several places to find an adoption professional. Many adoption practitioners are licensed to practice, but others are not.

Traditional adoption practitioners are professionally licensed by the state in which they practice. Licensed adoption practitioners include:

• Adoption Agencies
• Attorneys
• Physicians

Some non-traditional, unlicensed practitioners have also entered the field recently. Unlicensed adoption practitioners include:

Adoption Facilitators

Since California changed its independent adoption law in 1995, it has become more important than ever to find qualified adoption professionals. There are substantial risks in independent adoptions when handled by an unlicensed, unqualified person. Many states have outlawed facilitators, altogether, and some courts refuse to finalize adoptions arranged by facilitators. No facilitator is required by law to have a college degree, or a professional license of any kind.

Choosing an Attorney

Common sense requires that you learn something about the person being considered. It never hurts to know:

• How long the attorney has been in practice?
• How many adoptions has the attorney handled?
• How many of his or her adoptions fail?
• If one does fail, will he or she be able to help you adopt another baby?

Will you be required to spend thousands of dollars placing advertisements in newspapers, and then have to screen the birth mothers yourself?

These are just a few of the questions you should ask.