How to Prepare an Adoptive Parent Portfolio

Adoptive parents wanting to adopt a baby in the US must prepare an adoptive parent portfolio, also known as an adoptive parent profile. To learn more about how to prepare an adoptive parent profile, host Dawn Davenport interviewed an adoptee, mother of three through adoption, the owner of Our Journey to You (an adoption portfolio design company), and author of the new book How to Create a Successful Adoption Portfolio: Easy Steps to Help You Produce the Best Adoption Profile and Prospective Birthparent Letter; as well as a marketing/design professional who has worked with adoptive families providing consultation on their letters and online profiles.

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Hit the Highlights

What is an adoptive parent profile or an adoptive parent portfolio?
Why do adoptive parents have to prepare them?
What is meant by an Dear Expectant Parent Letter or a Dear Birth Mother Letter?
What should be included in an adoptive parent profile?
What should be left out?
How many pictures should you include?
What type of pictures should you include in your adoption portfolio? What type of pictures to avoid?
How long should the adoption profile be?
Should you bind your adoption portfolio in book form?
How should you handle religion in your adoption profile if you are not a religious family?
How should you handle physical limitations or disabilities or illnesses in the adoption profile that you prepare for expectant mothers or couples?
How should you handle pets, especially if you own a breed that has a bad reputation, such as a pit bull or German Sheperd?
What do expectant mothers or expectant couples (prospective birth mothers and fathers) look for in adoption profiles or adoption portfolios?

For more information from this show and a discussion of this topic, check out Dawn’s blog on the show: Dear Birth Mother Letter. Please join the discussion or leave your thoughts about the show in the comments on the blog.