Support and comfort is priceless. Turning despair into…read morehope. Gratitude. Highly recommend. Be not afraid.

Family Formation is hands down THE BEST business I've ever found on Yelp and I'm going to be…read morecounting my lucky 5-stars (see what I did there?) every day for the rest of my life that I found them. Thanks to Megan and the Family Formation team my husband and I finally have a daughter! It was a long road to get here (8 years, 2 rounds of IVF, 5 rounds of IUI, candle burning, fertility massage, acupunture, mystical treatments and more hormone injections then I care to remember) but honestly I believe everything happens for a reason, and meeting our gorgeous baby girl I can honestly say it was all worth it. The amazing thing is that after signing up with Megan and Family Formation the "wait" was almost nothing! We retained her services in early January and our baby was born in June! I know this isn't always the case and Megan did a great job of setting expectations so we were VERY surprised when the match occurred. I'm still suffering from a major case of baby brain + lack of sleep but a couple things I wanted to highlight about Megan and her team: 1. Unlike the bigger agencies, Megan only works with a small number of couples. After feeling like just a number in the revolving door of UCSF fertility we knew We wouldn't feel that way with Megan. And we never did. Best example: she gives you monthly updates as to whether you were presented or not. With the bigger agencies you get radio silence for months until the match occurs. Megan's very communicative. She always answered our (many) questions in a timely manner and often anticipated them before we had to ask! 2. After our consult...actually, after our initial phone call, we knew Megan was for us. She's got the perfect blend of kind/compassionate and matter of fact/direct. No BS with Megan. 3. Megan has the unique experience of being a birth mother herself. This means she's got a truly deep understanding of what a birth mother is going through and makes sure she is treated with the utmost respect and compassion. 4. Our adoption was out of state, but Megan found us a lawyer in that state (required for out of state adoptions) and stepped in whenever we had questions so we always felt supported even when we legally had to work with someone else. Thank you Megan (and thank you Yelpers for your amazing reviews that led us to find her). You've truly changed our lives!

Adoption Connection helped us facilitate our required pre and post home study for the adoption law…read morefirm we hired in Los Angeles. It was both helpful and convenient to use Adoption Connection here in the Bay Area so that we could successfully meet, interact and take classes with them. The thing that I most appreciated about Adoption Connection were the 2 classes we took, Interracial Adoption and a Intro to Adoption. We learned more than anything we could have read in any book or blog....the classes were awesome and we had a chance to meet with families that had adopted recently. Martha L. helped us for the post adoption home study and she was a pleasure to work with, very organized and easy to talk with. It felt like she genuinely wanted to see our adopted son happy and comfortable in his new home!

We attended our first Adoption 101 class in 2020 and the official outreach program in 2021. In our…read moresearch for agencies, we were really drawn to Adoption Connection (AC) b/c of their commitment and fierce advocacy for Birth mothers. After speaking with other agencies, attorneys and consultants, we felt that they were the most transparent not only with adoptive parents, but also with offering Birth Mothers perspective, counseling, and a listening ear to make the most informed decision during the most difficult time of their lives. We were told from the outset that 3 years+ was a realistic estimate in terms of placement and though we hoped it would be earlier, we understood how delicate this journey was. We were sent quarterly updates with the number of times our brochure had been presented (over 40 by the end of our process), but we had never met a Birth Mother in person yet. It's very easy to go to dark places and play the blame game as to why it hasn't happened yet, but we decided to turn our sadness into a year of yes. Yes to the trips, yes to the dinners, and yes to adventures that came our way. We started therapy and really worked on being the best version of ourselves we could for whenever we got the call. In our research, the best advice we were given is that as adoptive parents, we have to be ok with being 4th place in terms of choices for Birth Mothers who are placing their child up for adoption: 1st is with a birth parent 2nd is with a family member 3rd is with a member of their community We were more than happy to be 4th place and it's with that mindset, we were able to wait (as difficult as it was) almost 3 years for a placement. Our Birth Mother was very confident in her decision to place her child up for adoption, but understandably had second thoughts once the child was born. Those first 30 days were so stressful and AC really stepped up and not only offered comfort, perspective, and options for the Birth Mother, but also coached us through the difficult time of having the child with us and the possibility of things not working out. It was very important to all of us that our Birth Mother felt secure and safe in whatever decision she made and in the end, she felt that we were the best option for her child. Adoption is not for the faint of heart, but if not for the expertise and advice of the team at AC, we definitely would not have been able to honestly tell our child that this decision was not made lightly and was made out of an abundance of love b/c he was so wanted by all parties. We're so thankful for the Adoption Connection Team and their continued support of Birth Mothers and Adoptive Families.

My husband and I were so lucky to have Nina involved in our adoption process. She prepared our…read morehome study, follow-up home study and post placement review. We have also utilized adoption trainings from her private practice. I can say nothing but good things about Nina. We were terrified when we began the process of adoption and her friendly nature and extensive knowledge immediately alleviated our fears and reservations. Any question we had, she could answer it. We felt completely at ease with Nina. She was so excited for us when our daughter was placed with us and that meant she was invested in the process with us. That was very important. If you are a family thinking about adoption, I would highly recommend you speak with her. She will give you not only knowledge and guidance, she will give you comfort. Trish and Francisco Gomez

Nina is an inspirational therapist! In 2012 I placed my daughter for adoption and I was very lucky…read moreto be referred to Nina immediately. She was my rock during a time of chaos and change. She motivated me to be strong and gave me the tools to heal. She is a fantastic listener and is able to read body cues and address core issues that need to be dealt with. I strongly recommend her!

I am an established resource parent in Alameda County, I originally went through the county itself…read more(social services) to be certified for foster care etc and then we later adopted through the county. We now have been finalized with our daughter for 3 years and are ready to expand our family again through fost /adopt, but we decided that we wanted more input than we were allowed to have with the county. My daughters sister (who was also in foster care) ended up in a great home and that all came about through A Better Way, so we decided to look into their program and have begun our pride training classes. Since this is my 2nd time going through pride training (my last training was more than 5 years ago) initially I was not at all excited, but I have to say that I am really enjoying the classes. Being that I have been a foster parent, a concurrent planning placement parent and now an adoptive parent I am quite familiar with how things work, what the kids go through etc... and A Better Way does a really good job of balancing giving out that information (and not scaring people) along with presenting the lighter side of fost/adopt. I am very eager to finish the training and get to the next and so far so good. I would recommend a better way to anyone considering fost/adoption.

Please beware. I experienced the staff within the Another Road to Safety Program as being very…read morenegative and unprofessional. Please beware.

They are doing a great job if trying to save all the critters and supplying the public with low…read morecost spay/neuter and vaccines.

I cannot believe it was just last month that I was on my way to meet my beautiful little Opal…read more My experience with this location was something to remember for all time. Not only was the staff incredible, they truly love what they do. Opal has a mild case of CH and I currently have a little with a severe case. And I have a soft spot for giving these beautiful souls a happy home. From the phone call to even just arriving to the parking lot for directions I was definitely delighted to see friendly faces from the staff. The volunteers were so incredible, they were nothing but transparent and loving to all the littles in the venue I felt bad that I wanted to adopt when they have such great people. I think whoever is looking for a new addition should really consider adopting here. Every little is treated so incredibly well.

I've consutled Pocklington law several times over the years on various issues as well as referred a…read morefew friends and family members. My experience has always been receipt of a thoroughly evaluated response to my legal issue. Those who I have referred have echoed the same and many hired them.

Mr. Pocklington did an initial consult . I paid for his time, and I sent him a detailed list of…read morefollow-up questions. He told me he needed a formal agreement before proceeding, and I told him to go ahead and send it. He said he would send agreement after he returned fom vacation . I waited 3 weeks (after he returned from vacation).with no response. I followed up, and only then was I told that he was too busy to take my case. If he knew he didn't have the capacity, I wish he would have told me that from the start rather than letting this drag on. It's cost me time I didn't need to lose.

Exceptional staff and volunteers. Dedicated, knowledgeable, professional, helpful. Animals loved…read moreand well cared for. Everyone deducted to ensuring all of their guests find a loving home all their own.

We adopted a lovely dog at Joybound last week, and the Joybound team made it such a great…read moreexperience. They didn't pressure us with our decision during any of our visits, and provided so many useful resources for free insurance, vet visits, and behavior support to make the transition easier for my family. Highly recommend checking their beautiful facility if you're looking for a furry friend!

I joined AFS as a foster parent and was initially given 3 children who were a part of a family of 9…read morekids. Shortly after we were asked to take a fourth child. A few months later the parents of the 9 gave birth to a tenth child and we were asked to take him at 8 days old. My wife and I had the kids for 22 months. When the initial 3 arrived, the 2 elder ones were 11 and 9 years old while the third was 7. That 7 year old could sing the alphabet song but could no recognize A from B. When he left my home 22 months later he was reading at a Fourth Grade level. During our time one of the kids therapists (Katera) told us that she'd been in this field for 25 years and my wife and I were easily the best foster parents she'd ever worked with. Not only were we involved in every aspect of their lives which included participating in school activities. We were fierce advocates for their education and wellbeing. Bearing in mind that this was a family of 10 and we lived close to Discovery Kingdom I bought at my expense season tickets for all eligible children to that they could attend the park as a family. That meant the other foster parents dropping them off at the park and we took responsibility for the entire group. It was urging Tim's like these that we could see the love these children had for each other. My wife and I discussed it at length and decided we wanted to adopt the 7 youngest children as the older 3 were above the age of 12 and chose not to be adopted. At this point within the Child Protection Services the case was transferred from Foster Care to Adoption Care. Our home was visited maybe on 3 occasions by a Ms.Shipe who turned out to the a**hole of all a**holes. After her third visit she contacted AFS and asked them remove the children immediately from my home. I assume that the agency knowing that the children were at my home for 22 months without any problems waited for about 5 days before taking action then removing them on the sixth day. I tried to prevent this by asking AFS the reason for this, as was told they were removed because Shipe said "she knows there is a problem in that house but she just doesn't know what". Made a follow up attempt to meet with the VP of AFS with no results. Given the emotional investment we had in the kids being our family both my wife and I went into a state of depression and crazy thing is after 1 1/2 years AFS had the verbosity to call and ask us to take 3 more kids. They found no problems with our care for these children but did not defend us from Shipe leading me to believe they are in business not to help children but to make money. It remains to be seen if this is just the way THE SYSTEM WORKS or whether this was just a case that slipped through the cracks. I have sat on this for almost 5 years but it has always bothered me and I feel I need to get it off my chest.

Would not recommend working with this agency if you are a working parent. My partner and I filled…read moreout a form inquiring about the fost-adopt program and registered for orientation. Almost immediately we got a call from a woman named Lisa. Her first question was "so who is quitting their job to take care of the child?" I explained that we had good parental leave at our jobs (almost a year), and then we'd look into licensed childcare providers. She responded "foster kids can't go to daycare, because their brains are damaged! Anyway, NO child should be put in day care, even bio kids." Yikes! Definitely trauma affects brain development, but calling all foster kids "brain damaged" is misleading and creates stigma. I was also surprised about the daycare-for-bio-kids comments. That kind of shaming is bad for all families (bio, foster, and adoptive) - makes you wonder how they treat the parents trying to reunify! This woman also asked "why haven't you already arranged parental leave from your jobs?" It seems bizarre to expect that prospective foster parents have parental leave arranged before attending an info session. Most foster parents we know start talking to their workplace about leave as they complete training and can accept placements. The experience put us off applying to be foster parents for a while. We eventually did identify another agency that seemed a little more professional.

I love how quick and responsive they are in regards to our desire to adopt. I love the detail they…read moreput in to making sure that the animals are going to a proper family and not somebody lying through their teeth. It was super easy and quick, but thorough. I had no bad experiences at all, only good.

Everyone was so great in the process , accommodating and helpful with suggestions as well as…read moremeeting us for the adoption! Everyone involved was very communicative. It was a nice and easy process.