Meet Katie Houser, AFTH's Pittsburgh Office Manager! Adoption serves as the foundation of her family and helped her build connections with fellow adopted parents as well as adoptees. Keep reading to learn more about the unique origins of her family How has adoption shaped your family dynamic and the life of your children? I have [...]
Meet Roberta Evantash, our Manager of International Services! Her dedication to helping families throughout the adoption process drives her work at AFTH. In addition to helping clients, she also was a part of her relative's adoption journey. Tell me more about your personal connection to adoption. I have worked at AFTH almost from the beginning [...]
Meet Marilyn Rich, our Central PA District Supervisor and Search Coordinator! Her impressive career path demonstrates her dedication to the family building process through adoption. As an adoptee herself, Marilyn has poured her heart into AFTH and tells us that the best past of her job is seeing the children of families she has helped [...]
Meet Heidi Gonzalez, AFTH’s Associate Director, Regional Supervisor of Allentown, PA & Wilmington, DE, and self-proclaimed Webmistress! Heidi’s connection to adoption goes back to before she was even born! The daughter of AFTH's Founder Maxine Chalker who is an adoptee herself, Heidi has seen the ups and downs of the adoption process, and everything in [...]
The hospital experience is a time of excitement for prospective adoptive parents but it can also bring about worries and fears as well. It can be one of the most emotional parts of the adoption process. Emotions run high and it’s a roller coaster of thoughts and feelings. As adoption counselors, we often tell our [...]
A very special thank you to Kyle for sharing his story. Happy Young Family The journey from start to this day has been a learning experience. In the beginning it was very hard. I will tell you about the start of everything. My ex and I were just starting out in Pittsburgh PA [...]
While open adoption and future contact comes easy to some birth parents, others need some space after placement or initially desire a closed adoption. As adoptive parents, you want to honor those wishes, but it is important to not think that there will never be contact or no need for updates if your child's birth [...]
At Adoptions From the Heart, we have always prided ourselves on our extensive options counseling with expecting parents. We don’t consider options counseling a one-time conversation, but an ongoing topic that we continue to explore throughout the time the expecting parents are considering adoption. An expecting parent’s options might change throughout the pregnancy experience, so [...]
Adoptions From The Heart understands that struggles often don’t end after placement and that counseling and support services are vital after placement to help birth parents get back on their feet. Over the past 30 years, AFTH social workers have been working with expecting and birth parents who are hoping to pursue further education after [...]
National Birth Mother’s Day is observed every year the Saturday before Mother’s Day. On this day, we should all recognize and applaud the birth mothers who made the loving, courageous, and selfless decision to place their child for adoption, leading families around the world to experience one of life’s greatest joys. This year National Birth [...]
