Pregnancy and Adoption Resources

NEW BEGINNINGS ADOPTION & FAMILY SERVICES

Tupelo, Mississippi

2009 SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

 

Domestic Adoptions

 

New Beginning’s domestic adoption program is one of the foundations of our ministry to women in crisis pregnancy.  With the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, the number of birthmothers opting to carry their pregnancy to term has decreased dramatically.  Coupled with the greater acceptance of single parenting, the number of single pregnant women deciding to carry their child to term AND to place their child for adoption has dropped to less than 1%.  The challenge for New Beginnings is to make sure that women with an unplanned pregnancy know the truth of what confidential or open adoption (the level of confidentiality or openness is entirely the birthmother’s choice) has to offer them and their expected child.  Debbie Velie (Domestic Program Director, LBSW) and Renae Hellen (LBSW), our birthmother counselors, have done a very effective job of counseling with women and supporting them even when they do not choose adoption.

 

Unfortunately for honest birthmothers and adoptive families, the world of domestic adoptions has changed dramatically over the last 10 years.  Where the emphasis used to be on the counseling of birthmothers to make good decisions for their expected child, the field is now dominated by for-profit, non-licensed adoption facilitators.  These organizations typically charge $20,000 or more just to connect a family with a birthmother.  The revenues generated enable them to have a very attractive presence on the internet and to advertise in newspapers and yellow pages throughout the country.  Frequently birthmothers seeing these ads have no idea where the facilitator is geographically located and personal counseling is often waived in favor or receiving financial assistance with their pregnancy expenses.

 

We have placed 16 children for adoption through our domestic program thus far in 2008 and are currently working with six birthmothers who are making an adoption plan for their expected child.  This compares with the placement of 17 children in 2008, but there are still a few days left in December!

 

Since some families choose to adopt independently through adoption attorneys without the benefit of pre- or post-adoption services, we also provide homestudies in Mississippi for these families at a very reasonable cost.  In addition to increased outreach to churches, hospital social workers, school counselors and partnering with other Christian agencies around the country, we are seeking to build our domestic adoption program through advertising that targets the most vulnerable, pregnant birthmothers.

 

International Adoptions

 

We have experienced both successes and disappointments with our international adoption program this year.

 

Hague Accreditation: It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of attaining accreditation under the Hague Inter-Country Adoption Act.  New Beginnings achieved 2-year temporary Accreditation in April 2008 and will finalize its 5-year Accreditation process in January 2010. This has been a long, arduous and expensive process.  But without it, we would be crippled in our efforts to reach out to the orphaned children of the world with the hope of permanent families.  Marcus Davenport (International Program Director) has become our resident expert “on all things Hague,” and our President, Tom Velie (LMSW) is an evaluator for the Council on Accreditation for site visits for other agencies.  Our current Hague Accreditation does not expire until April 2010 so we are very comfortable with achieving our 5-year Accreditation in plenty of time.  It is significant to note that several agencies which were denied Hague Accreditation have closed their doors.  Even for countries which have not implemented the Hague Treaty, the gold standard for quality of services is Hague Accreditation by the Council on Accreditation.  In addition, New Beginnings has the largest and best qualified team of Hague-qualified social workers in Mississippi. We are very thankful for the Lord’s help in achieving this level of professionalism.

 

Nepal Registration:   Twenty-five American adoption agencies are registered in the country of Nepal and New Beginnings is thankful to be one of these agencies. Ten adoptive family dossiers are on file with the Ministry of Women, Children & Social Welfare in Kathmandu, Nepal awaiting their matches with children. Ten more families are in the process of completing their dossiers for 2010. Unfortunately, political unrest in Nepal has delayed the administrative process of matching the children in Nepal, but we are told that a new minister is now in place and that the process may proceed more smoothly.

 

Our Nepali Humanitarian Service Coordinator, Mr. Bobby Adhikari, through generous donations made by a wonderful Christian family, and through the “New Beginnings of Nepal” monthly partnership program donors, opened an orphan home for 10 children in June 2009. What a great testimony this is to the vision of the New Beginnings Founders, Stephen and Evelyn Drury, and to the dedication of “Brother Bobby.”

 

Poland:  New Beginnings is now licensed with the Polish government to provide adoptive services in Poland and is accepting applications for this program. We have hired our Polish Representative and adoptive families can have confidence that their adoption process will proceed smoothly. This program is ideal for the adoptive family that is interested in adopting children over the age of five (some younger children may be available in sibling groups).

 

Other countries: New Beginnings is in the process of investigating and possibly opening other country programs in several countries. Information will be provided on this website when details are finalized. We are carefully considering other opportunities to reach out to children in orphanages in other parts of the world, but do not want to duplicate already successful programs by our partner agencies.

 

Summary: It is difficult to write such a short summary of the activities of our agency for an entire year.  Our staff has done a remarkable job under very trying circumstances and I am proud of each of them.  Some are well known to our clients and some work behind the scenes.  But each has made a contribution to our mission.

 

Please join us in praying for increased activity in 2010 and the opportunity for more children to find their permanent homes. Every Child Deserves a Forever Family.

 

With the Christmas season upon us, joy and gratefulness should be nestled within our hearts.  And for good reason.  Every person has something that they can be thankful for, despite what difficult circumstances they may have in their life.  We can be thankful for family, for friends, for creation, for joy, for peace, for hope…or, if for none of these other things, for the very breath in our lungs and the lifeblood in our veins.

Family keeps coming to my mind as something I’m most thankful for this Christmas.  Our work at New Beginnings is all about family.  We see families come together all the time and see what a blessing they are to each other.  Families aren’t perfect…they’re made up of imperfect members.  But what a blessing to have a group of people you can call family….a group of people who is supposed to know you better than most, and love you anyway….a group of people you can count on in hard times and turn to in lonely times….a group of people that you have traditions with….a group who you celebrate joyous occasions with and grieve through hard times with.  And blood lines do not make a family…love does.

It’s our prayer this Christmas season that, for all of those in the world who don’t have a group of people that they can call family, whether they be adults or children, that they will be set in a family, as Psalm 68:6 says:   “God sets the lonely in families…”  And it’s our prayer that we’ll have the continued strength, resources, and favor from God to have a small part in helping to set some of these people in families through adoption.