MSW, LSW Executive Director Adoptions From the Heart

"I founded Adoptions From The Heart more than 17 years ago because I wanted to remove the shroud of mystery and secrecy that surrounded adoption by offering the kinder alternative of 'open adoption' to the standard 'closed adoptions' of the time. As and adoptee myself, I knew personally the sense of loss and abandonment that many adopted children and adult adoptees feel. As a social worker I witnessed the pain of birth parents who wondered what became of their children. 'Open Adoption' benefits all members of the adoption triad. Adoptive parents are able to answer questions and share information that their children ask, helping them to understand why their birth parents chose adoption and birth parents have the knowledge of who is raising and caring for the child they couldn't take care of at that point in their lives."

Maxine Chalker founded Adoptions From The Heart in 1985 for very personal reasons. Chalker, herself an adoptee, was troubled by the mystery that surrounded the adoption process. Frustrated in her search for her birth mother and information about her medical past, Chalker founded Adoptions From the Heart upon the premise of open adoption, pioneering the concept in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware region.

Open adoption offers birth parents the option of choosing the family they want to raise their unborn child. This not only removes much of the fear and mystery from the process, it creates an opportunity for communication between the birth parents, the adoptive parents and the adopted child.

Adopted children placed through open adoption have more information on their backgrounds, (medical history, who their birth parents were, why they were placed for adoption), which enables them to feel more complete.

Adoptive parents who choose open adoption meet the birth parents of their child, allowing for a sharing of information and a sense of inclusion that prevents the feelings of loss and abandonment some adopted children experience.

Recognizing that many children overseas also need loving homes, Chalker began offering international adoption more than 10 years ago. The agency currently works with orphanages in China, Vietnam, Russia, India, Guatemala, Ukraine, Ecuador and Lithuania.

Maxine Chalker is a passionate supporter of the adoption process, a visionary in her field and a strong proponent of the rights of all three parties involved in the process. She earned her master's degree in social work, and is a licensed social worker. Her agency has helped build more than 2,720 families through adoption.

A non-profit agency, Adoptions >From the Heart has 10 offices located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and Connecticut.

For more information see www.adoptionsfromtheheart.org.

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