Carole L. Whitehead is a first mother who placed her son for adoption in 1963. Back then, an unwed pregnancy was to be hidden and the child secretly placed. Carole felt she had no choice but to relinquish rights to her child in 1963. Now she is advocating for adoption reform.

As an unwed 18 year old in the summer of 1962, I became pregnant and with the climate the way it was back then, I was sent away and gave up my baby because as a “single” parent I could not provide for him. Whoever heard of single parent way back when? The innuendos did speak loudly. I was the tramp and my son, the bastard child, but nobody knew that because it was a secret. To hide my shame and disgrace [I did not know that I had either], I stayed at an unwed mother’s home, gave birth alone, and sent home without my beloved baby. I signed the surrender papers on July 1, 1963, when my son was less than 2 months old. For many years, I did not understand why I was treated like a pariah with my first pregnancy. My parents experienced no joy knowing that soon they would become grandparents while still in their 40s because they and society would not accept his birth.

Hi everyone, I am Harry Panagopoulos, the adoptive father of Olivia. I thank you all for participating in this Blog. If any of you need any more FACTS about this case, I will be happy to provide you with all the information. What happened was truly WRONG. When they said it was because of our health, both my wife and I, went to all the appropriate specialists and where given a clean bill of health. Florida ICPC only requested an updated FBI clearance and that's it. This was the ONLY reason we gave them Olivia back. WE are just so tired and drained from this whole nightmare that we just hope and pray that Olivia is in good hands. We have not gotten our money back and we need it in order to pursue getting another child and move forward in our lives.

Harry and Chene Panagopoulos had been working with ASCS of Florida for over 12 months on adopting a Caucasian infant. At our first point of contact we filed in a 97 page questionnaire and at that time, a home study was required and we got that done and submitted it to ASCS they received our home study on April 20th 2008. On Friday April 17th 2009 we received an email stating that there was a potential baby that was due November 20th 2009 and if ASCS could send our profile, of course we said yes.

On Monday April 20th 2009 we received a phone call, stating that they have another baby that had just been born and was tested positive for Methamphetamine (birthmother positive for Methamphetamine and Opiates), and if she can present our profile to the birthmother. We agreed as we own a clinic that provides services to children with special needs. At 6:30 pm we received a phone call stating that the birthmother chose us and we can come to get our baby immediately. We drove all night to Florida, to get our child. On April 21st 2009, we met with ASCS (Stacia Hammond) to pick up our baby Olivia Hannah (the name we chose for her).

 We are very fortunate to have a guest blog from Lynne Banks the co-founder of the adoptionscams.net and the Midwest Regional Director of the American Adoption Congress

Lynne has been married for 25 yrs and together her and Herb have adopted two girls. Both girls enjoy the benefits of open adoption with both of their biological families.

HB 2174 requires public reporting of adoption expenses to allow judges and the public to see the actual costs attorneys charge in adoptions. It also requires that only one prospective adoptive family at a time be billed for a birth mother's expenses and that all adoptions must be conducted in one of four locations - the home county of the birth mother; the home county of the adoptive parents; or in Oklahoma or Tulsa counties.

 Michael and his husband reside in California with their 18-month old adopted son. They hope to adopt another child soon. Michael contributes pertinent information on adoption issues on several websites and groups.

We brought our son home in September 2007. We are eternally grateful to his birth mother and to our adoption professionals.

We made our decision to adopt in April 2006, signed with our agency, and began submitting paperwork and meeting with our social worker for the required pre-placement homestudy. During this time, we received advice from the agency as well as those in the adoption community that we needed to get our information out there. We did. By February 1, 2007, we were ready and waiting to match. After waiting just five months, I got a bit impatient. We contacted our agency, and discovered that we had only been presented to a handful of birth mothers, none of whom were interested in meeting us. The agency, a very reputable one, confirmed that they had not had much contact with new birth mothers during the first six months of 2007. I was growing impatient. I constantly searched for ways to improve our efforts.