A free, online training course for adoption professionals
and counselors providing services and care to people
facing unexpected pregnancies.
Created by birth parents and experienced professionals,
Exploring Adoption combines recent research, best practices,
and personal stories to educate and equip those
serving today's expectant and birth parent population.
Created by birth parents and experienced professionals, Exploring Adoption combines recent research, best practices, and personal stories to educate and equip those serving today's expectant and birth parent population.
The Course is free, available on-demand, and offers 1.5 social work CEs.
Did You Know?
According to our 2022 nationwide survey of birth parents, there are two things that make the biggest difference in overall satisfaction about choosing to place for adoption:
- Non-coercive, non-directive pregnancy counseling
- Accurate, comprehensive information about adoption
The average woman facing an unexpected pregnancy today is in her mid-twenties.
It's also more common today that she is already parenting other children, and that she may have previously placed another child for adoption.
Birth parents are diverse in nearly every demographic category: age, race, previous parenting experience, education level, marital status, and religion.
Over 90% of women who have placed a child for adoption since 2010, have experienced stigma about their status as a birth mother.
"We did not place our children for any neglectful reason. We're not neglecting duties or our child or our culture. We love our children and we did what we know is best for our child. And it was not done out of neglect. I always fear when I share my story, someone's going to think that I placed my child because I was like using drugs or drinking, and it's like, this was a choice. … There's a stigma with it [adoption]. And I think ultimately, it's always an act of love. Not neglect." - focus group participant
Module One: History of Domestic Infant Adoption
Review the history of private domestic adoption including the background and current status of adoption. You will learn how adoption has evolved over time and what has influenced the debate about current practices.
Module Two: Stigmas and Bias Surrounding Adoption
This module builds a critical foundation for the rest of the course, inviting participants to rethink their views of adoption. We discuss common misconceptions about adoption and provide participants with the knowledge and resources to overcome those barriers. This module also explains the importance of thoughtful communication and accurate adoption language.
Module Three: Understanding the Adoption Process
This module provides general information about adoption and the legal process. This module will outline standards of good practice when exploring the adoption option with expectant parents. This module will also define commonly used adoption terminology that will assist in explaining the adoption process.
Module Four: Changes and Modern Practices in Domestic Infant Adoption
Adoption has changed dramatically, especially over the past two decades. This module gives you a better understanding of modern private domestic adoption practices and explores what led to some of the most significant changes. This module will cover topics such as choosing adoptive parents, varying levels of openness, issues of grief and loss, and the need for post-placement counseling.
Module Five: Adoption Information and Resources
This module will give you state-specific tools and resources that facilitate information gathering by those counseling expectant parents and the expectant parents themselves. We answer adoption FAQs and highlight the importance of offering appropriate referrals for adoption services and educating expectant parents in how to find a trusted adoption service provider.
Testimonials
"It was great to hear the stories of birth parents as I provide both options counseling and post-adoptive counseling services to birth parents."
"This was excellent training that I will be able to apply when I am counseling expectant parents and/or advocating for them."
"As a private adoption program director, my hope is to use this to educate our community partners!"
"I am a supervisor and will be requiring my new staff to take this training. It is very useful for those just entering the field."
"Gives me more perspective than I had before on emotional affects on birth parents."
"Great training! This will help me personally and professionally."
Social Work CE
Our library of on-demand webinars were designed to meet the needs of today's adoption professionals, offering:
