After having adopted 3 times, my wife and I have created LOTS of adoption profile books, so I’ve done a lot of research and talked to a bunch of experts about how to make the BEST profile.
The following guest post is from Madeleine – a mom through adoption and an adoptee herself. She shares her tips and unique perspective in the adoption world that will help you with your adoption profile so you can adopt faster. Enjoy!
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I regularly see posts from hopeful parents who just want to get their profile finished. They make an “all call” on adoption Facebook pages in hopes of seeing what others have done when creating their profiles. Whatever is fastest. Whatever can accomplish it as soon as possible.
I get it. I am very much a person who wants things done yesterday, but if there was ever something you wanted done right, it should be this.
Doing exactly what everyone else has done will not work- you have to make it, YOU.
It really does not take much more time to make your profile unique to you, but it may make all the difference in the outcome. So look at the other profiles if you want to. See what you like and do not like, but whatever you do, take the time to make yours, your own.
1. BE YOU.
The best advice I can give when it comes to your adoption profile is to be you and each of the other tips will fall under that heading. YOU ARE good enough. YOU ARE unique.
You are not going to be chosen for what you have in common with all of the other families, you will be chosen for something that sets you apart – something an expectant parent can connect with.
I once helped a family that was chosen by an expectant mom because they raised rabbits. Who woulda thunk it, right?!?! Do not try to be a stepford family. Do not try and be another version of you. Had that family with the rabbits not been themselves and shown themselves they would not have been chosen.
2. Do not use the same old clichés.
While they may be true, there are a handful of things I think I see on 7 out of 10 profiles I look at. Speak your own language. You are “chatting” with someone when you create the text for your profile.
You need to use your own words. Speak as you normally do. Do not talk up or down to your reader. Do not turn into a Hallmark card.
3. Explain the parent you hope to be and specifics about what you hope to share.
Like everything else, this should not be a copy cat or cliché version of what a million other profiles say, this should be unique to you and your life. I know you tell your friends and family what you hope to share with a child.
I bet if I met you at a dinner party you could tell me about yourself, your life and the parent you want to be- you can do it in your profile, too! Are you the parent that wants to help with homework? That is awesome at Halloween make-up?
That will make stockings, coach or be a home-room parent? Does your partner love to listen to music while they cook dinner- a dinner you want to share as a family? Does your family have a great tradition you want to share?
It is the specifics. Those little things that make you, you that will stand out.
4. Choose pictures that tell the reader something.
I should know more about you from your photos than that “you have nicely toned shoulders”. Your pictures should tell me a story.
If you are a gardener, cook, bike rider- include pictures of yourself doing those things along with a caption or text about how you will share them. Have you already started knitting things for the baby? Can you fix a bike chain for a little person in no time flat?
Let’s see it in a picture. Pictures really will draw a reader to a page and to the story if you choose the right ones (and they are not super tiny). Whatever you do, do not litter your profile with head and shoulder shots or just groups of people standing around.
5. Do not forget your layout.
I have seen profiles with ducks and baby blocks on them, remember – the profile is created to reflect you – not the baby or the expectant parent—YOU!
Everything from your text to pictures and of course your layout should send out a feeling to the person reading it about YOU. Your color choices will say a lot about you, so do not choose pastels because it makes you think of babies. Choose what you like visually.
I know it can be hard to do, but break out of that box you put yourself in, forget about being a cookie-cutter and show the reader – YOU – wonderful YOU!
You deserve for the reader to see YOU and the expectant parents deserve to get a feel for who you really are. It IS important and a part of the honesty you will want to share from the start.
