A safe place for the people you serve to explore pregnancy options.

"Thank you! I appreciate your consistent and strong advocacy for women and girls." - Deborah {PCC Resource Center)

"You are doing such important work!! And I’m so glad you pointed out the option for working proactively with families whose parental rights are in jeopardy. We hadn’t really thought about that possibility." - Jennifer {Skagit County Public Health)

"In the years I have called upon you to visit my classes, your presentations are always current, relevant to that particular group, and emotionally charged enough to be memorable and effective." - Kathleen {University of Portland)

"“I’m warmed to see how the idea of connecting birth parents and potential adoptive parents has blossomed into great outcomes.” Maurita Johnson, DHS District Manager " - Maurita Johnson, DHS District Manager

"“Thank you for the work you have done to support the work that I do. I remember being a new receptionist at Planned Parenthood over 11 years ago and hearing a presentation from OA&FS. It changed my approach to options counseling and made me better at my job on a deeply personal level. Your team has been such a beacon of support and reciprocity for members of my team in ways I can’t even quantify. Thank you for always being a resource, for the work you are doing to connect families all over our community, and for making the world a better place through OA&FS.” " - Kara Hedberg - Planned Parenthood

Service provider resources for professionals working with expectant parents.


You care deeply about the needs of the people you serve. At Open Adoption & Family Services, we do too.  If you’re a professional working with expectant parents who are facing unintended pregnancies or would like to explore adoption, we’d like to extend our service provider resources to you. In this section you'll learn about programs, trainings and presentations that we offer. You can also order free materials for your clients and patients.

OA&FS is a pro-choice, non-profit adoption agency that provides all-options pregnancy counseling and open adoption services. We've promoted diversity and inclusion since 1985. We're licensed in Oregon and Washington and also provide services to people across the U.S. We look forward to hearing from you and sharing information about our innovative model of choice, empowerment and relationship building.

About OA&FS
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Are you working with a client facing significant barriers to parenting?


These conversation starters can help you get an understanding of the hopes and needs of the expectant parent you're working with.

We recognize that not all parents facing state intervention choose to pursue the path of parenting. When this is the case, we're available to help them further explore their options and plan a private agency adoption if that's the route they choose to take.

  • How do you feel about parenting at this time?
  • What supports do you feel you need to make your vision of parenting a reality?
  • If the choice to parent doesn't feel right, what do you know about private agency adoption?

Private agency adoptions can provide another path for those who want to explore this option.


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OA&FS adoptee Henry with birth parent Jamie and adoptive parents Deb and Corey.

We provide an empowering model to expectant parents, and will truly honor their individual choice. The genuine and lasting child-centered relationship is at the core of our high-integrity open adoptions.

At Open Adoption & Family Services, our services always start with respecting and honoring expectant parents. Pregnant and parenting individuals receive non-directive, all-options pregnancy counseling as they explore all of their choices. If they decide to plan an open adoption, our services reflect their vision and include ongoing post-placement counseling and support.



Our unique collaborative relationship with Oregon DHS.

We support the work of DHS and are honored to be a community partner for them in their Vision for Transformation. In 2019/2020 we provided free presentations to over 1,300 CPS, DHS and Self-Sufficiency workers throughout Oregon. These trainings focused on how together we can support parents who wish to explore private agency adoption.


We’re happy to provide a presentation for your staff! Here's what DHS participants have said about their experiences.

“Thank you for the presentation; it was fantastic information and I believe the workers that were able to attend also enjoyed it.” DHS Supervisor
“I have so enjoyed collaborating with you, and I too look forward to continuing our work together.” Lacey Andresen, DHS Deputy Director, Child Welfare Practice & Program
“The birthmom wanted to plan an adoption so we called you! I will be using this often. So great! Thank you!” Nicole Tucker, CPS Worker
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Last minute adoption plans.


When your patient wants to create their own unique adoption plan, our “last minute” open adoption services empower and support them. At Open Adoption & Family Services, we recognize the challenges you face daily as you meet the unique and complex needs of each patient. If they want to explore her adoption options, we can help. Here’s how we can extend our services to you:

Quick
Response

Counselors are available via phone seven days a week from 7 am-9 pm PST.


All Options Counseling

The counselor can help your patient explore their options, explain their legal rights regarding adoption, assess the non-pregnant partner's legal status and support them in whatever decision they ultimately makes.


Adoption-Ready Families


They can select from 65-85 diverse families who are prepared to adopt. We provide a detailed profile on all of the families for their review. Our families are seeking a genuine friendship with them.

Creating a Relationship


The family they choose can meet them within a few hours. With our relationship guidance, they begin building a strong and healthy foundation to their open adoption relationship. Together they create a legally enforceable contract for ongoing visits.


Entrustment & Placement


In most cases we are able to place the child with the adoptive family before the parent and the baby are discharged, if that's what they wish. The adoption reflects their adoption vision.


Follow-up Counseling


They are entitled to ongoing counseling and relationship support. We have a lifetime commitment to our child-centered adoptions.

Hear firsthand experiences from people living in open adoption.




Ongoing contact enables birth parents to see for themselves that their child is thriving in the adoptive family’s home. This helps them feel at peace with their open adoption decision. Our video "Open Adoption Over the Years" shows how families have built long-term relationships. 

Knowing that the birth parents fully support the adoption, adoptive parents feel secure in welcoming the birth parents into their lives. Watch our video "Placement and Entrustment." And, most importantly, the open relationship gives the child direct access to information about their history and support from their birth parents. This allows for the healthy development of the child’s sense of identity and self-esteem.

Watch Open Adoptee Videos

Free trainings and presentations.

Let us help you support your clients.


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We recognize that counseling with people who are facing an unplanned pregnancy can present unique challenges. We would like to offer the support you need to make this process easier. OA&FS provides free, interactive trainings for groups of any size.

Currently, our trainings are being held via Zoom. The length can flex depending on the needs of your staff. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with you and your team!

Get up-to-date information with an OA&FS presentation.


Recognizing best practices in all-options pregnancy counseling and open adoption enables helping professionals to make informed referrals and empower their clients to access relevant high integrity services.

Our trainings help prepare service providers to skillfully include accurate information when discussing pregnancy options with their patients and clients. Topics covered include:

  • Trauma-informed all-options counseling.
  • Accurate information about child-centered open adoption.
  • Experiences of birth and adoptive parents in open adoption relationships.
  • The experience your clients/patients would have working with Open Adoption & Family Services.
  • How to support clients and patients at risk for CPS intervention.
  • Ethical and legal issues in adoption.
  • Sensitive adoption language and dispelling common misconceptions.

Access our free webinars for service providers.


We offer webinars on a variety of topics related to pregnancy options counseling and open adoption. These are engaging, interactive and include videos of real people living open adoptions. Watch birthmother Katelyn’s story of placing her son Zac 18 years ago, and the amazing relationships that have been created as a result.

See Webinar Listings and Register

Our service provider Bill of Rights.


When referring a pregnant person to us, you can be assured they will …


Receive respect and compassion as they explore all of their pregnancy options.
Receive unbiased counseling from qualified counselors.
Make the choice that feels best for them.

If they choose adoption, they will…


Receive ongoing counseling, guidance and support throughout the process.
Choose their child’s adoptive family from our diverse pool of all available families.
Review the adoptive family’s homestudy and detailed family book.
Receive guidance as they develop a relationship with the adoptive family.
Receive a legally enforceable contract for ongoing visits.
Create the birth plan.
Sign adoption consents only when they're ready.
Entrust their child to the adoptive parents in an entrustment ceremony.
Feel at home in their open adoption: feel welcomed, honored and valued.
Receive ongoing adoption-related counseling and relationship guidance.
Receive unbiased counseling from qualified counselors.
Be welcomed into our vibrant open adoption community.
If you refer a non-pregnant partner, they will be included, heard and valued.
Attend the birth parents' retreat.
Be connected to other birth parents.

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Partnering with professionals in community support.


OA&FS has a long history of partnering with clinics, hospitals, schools and other organizations that support pregnant people. We work with organizations throughout Oregon and Washington.

Thanks to our colleagues for these endorsements:


Thank you for the presentation. It was great! We all came away with a lot of great information for ourselves, and to share with all of our patients. We will be in contact with you in the future for more materials. – Katie Jo, Health Center Manager, Planned Parenthood of the Columbia-Willamette.

We so appreciate the fact that OA&FS is willing to come each year to Birthingway College of Midwifery to share information and connection with our students. OA&FS' mission and philosophy dovetail beautifully with the way we encourage our students to engage in their own care, emphasizing true shared decision-making. Our students value the relational, whole-person, centered approach OA&FS espouses, and they are grateful to have open adoption as a resource for clients. – Nichole Reding, MA, CPM, LDM, Academic Coordinator and Instructor, Birthingway College.

OA&FS counselor Katie has been providing training support for a group of my staff that are learning options counseling. Katie has been incredible in providing support and training. She is obviously knowledgeable and incredibly skilled, as well as professional and passionate. – Multnomah County Maternal Child Health Director.

You and your staff do such a unique and life-affirming job. You really are changing the face and feel of adoption in Oregon! – Elizabeth, Program Development Specialist, Healthy Start of Multnomah County, OR

Every so often, a patient comes into the hospital to deliver, intending to release her infant for adoption but without having a plan in place. At such a critical time, it is important for the hospital social worker to let the patient know there are adoption resources that can provide her with complete information about her options so that she can make an informed decision about whether or not she wants to proceed with an adoption release. Open Adoption and Family Services is such an agency and one that I have come to respect and hold in high regard. I have found Open Adoption and Family Services willing to respond immediately and without hesitation to situations involving unplanned adoptions. Further, I know that they will maintain the ethic of patient self-determination and work to facilitate whatever the patient considers to be in the best interest of herself and her newborn. Professionally, Open Adoption and Family Services has made my life a lot simpler, and the life of many birthmothers who enter the hospital devoid of a plan, a lot more satisfying. – Rich, Clinical Social Worker

I wanted thank you regarding the recent presentation by your counselor, Katie. She was AMAZING! Great information, very personable, clear and concise in answering questions, very competent and clearly able to articulate issues of social justice and sensitivity to client centered practice with the agency. Also wanted to say how impressed I am with the OA&FS program in general and the values that are very clear in its processes. – Mr. B. Bartja, LICSW, MHP, CMHS PSNHC, Social Worker, Rainier Beach Medical Clinic

Whether working with patients or healthcare professionals, I always recommend Open Adoption & Family Services. I am consistently impressed by their commitment to the families they work with and to the community at large. They provide a wealth of information, nonjudgmental counseling, and emotional and logistical support -- and are always happy to refer clients who may need outside services. Most importantly, Open Adoption & Family Services truly provides women with CHOICES.” – Grayson, Education Program Coordinator, formerly with Planned Parenthood, Portland

When working with OA&FS, it is a great relief to know our patients will receive consistent emotional support before and after the adoption. My experience has been that both birth and adoptive parents working with OA&FS feel better-prepared and well-supported when making an adoption plan. – Karen, Medical Social Worker, PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center, Eugene, OR

I feel very confident working with OA&FS, because I can depend on an immediate response. I know the OA&FS counselor will be an advocate for my patient and support her in any decision she makes. I am also confident that the counselor is very informed about the legal issues around adoption. – Kay, Maternity Care Coordinator, McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center, Springfield, OR

I have been impressed with the quality of service OA&FS provides to the birthmothers who deliver here. The adoption counselors are always respectful, well-informed and competent professionals. Their involvement helps us provide quality medical care, while insuring the ethical issues related to adoption are upheld. – Donna, Lead Social Worker, PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, Vancouver, WA

Thank you so much for taking the time to come out to SARC and share Open Adoption's mission with us. This is such a great/thought-provoking topic for our volunteers. There was a lot of great discussion after you left! We really appreciate your philosophy about empowering individuals to make decisions that are best for them. I will definitely be in touch in the future, in order to set up another info. sharing experience for our volunteers. Keep up the great work! Thanks again! – Esther, Volunteer Manager, SARC (Sexual Assault Resource Center)

I am so very grateful to have your continued participation in the Nursing of Families course at University of Portland. The students are surprised and informed by your information and presentation and you never fail to engage and stimulate them into questioning and participation. – Kathleen, University of Portland Nursing Program

Thank you very much for coming and talking with us. The information and discussion was truly at the right level for this group. And our discussion continued after you left - it was a valuable afternoon (from the faculty perspective for sure!). I look forward to connecting with you again! – J. Dale, University of Portland

Thanks for sending copies of your latest brochures. I am so glad your organization exists, and my staff has been very pleased with the services you provide when they have been able to have clients to meet with one of your counselors. You are doing such important work!! And I’m so glad you pointed out the option for working proactively with families whose parental rights are in jeopardy. We hadn’t really thought about that possibility. – Jennifer, Skagit Co. Public Health

Appreciate all you do, and your efforts to assure we have current and accurate materials. – Diana, Program Coordinator, Commission on Children & Families/Healthy Start


We appreciate our community partners.


Portland


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Seattle


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Eugene


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Oregon and Washington Statewide



Nationwide



Free materials and resources from Open Adoption & Family Services.


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OA&FS offers the following free brochures, fliers and videos for service providers and their clients. To order these materials, contact us at 1-800-772-1115, email info@openadopt.org or fill out this online order form. If you would like to include excerpts from OA&FS materials or republish this content, please contact us for permission.

Cards, brochures and fliers.


OA&FS SERVICES


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Pregnant? You Have Choices. Business card-sized mini brochure with an overview of OA&FS services including pregnancy options counseling and open adoption. Includes information in Spanish.

OPEN ADOPTION


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What is Open Adoption? Brochure that outlines our open adoption program.

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Explora tus opciones de embarazo. Brochure about our unique all-options pregnancy counseling and open adoption program en Español.

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Fathers Matter. Brochure outlining how birthfathers are important in their child’s life.

GUIDES FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS



Guide for Service Providers. Booklet with in-depth information on OA&FS services and how to access them. Includes fliers to share with your clients.


Guide for Oregon Hospital Social Workers and Staff. Booklet with in-depth information on OA&FS services and how to access them. Includes fliers to share with your patients.


Guide for State Child Welfare Professionals. Booklet with in-depth information on OA&FS services and how to access them. Includes fliers to share with your clients.

VIDEOS ONLINE


Go to our Open Adoption Stories and Videos section to learn first-hand from those living in open adoption. These include: