Her Heart’s Desire – A Conversation with Thea Ramirez
One of the great things about The Southern C is we cross paths with some really neat people making the South (and even our world) a better place. One such person is Thea Ramirez. An energetic mom of three, Thea is full of life and loves what she does. As the founder of Adoption Share (www.adoption-share.com), a social networking site that allows potential parents to connect with licensed agencies around the country, Thea has found her heart’s work. What better time to introduce her than our Valentine issue? Read Thea’s story in her own words.
Adoption-Share was literally birthed 6 weeks after my second child was born. I had been serving as a Director of a private adoption agency licensed in Florida and Georgia when the Lord opened my eyes and made me aware of the dysfunction that exists in the adoption community.
I began to hear adoptive parents tell me how much money they spent, or in many cases lost; of the years of waiting and no phone call. I began to hear of adoption agencies withholding financial support for birth mother expenses until after she terminated her parental rights; of agencies working with the same woman on her 6th adoption plan….I could go on and on. It not only troubled me that such atrocities existed but further, in many cases (depending upon the state) they were within the vague confines of law.
When the Lord stirred my heart, He blessed me with envisioning a solution which has become Adoption-Share. So sure of His calling, I quit my job, depleted our savings account, and walked confidently in faith towards the One who so intently beckoned. Almost a year later, Adoption-Share is working in nearly 40 states, with over 200 people, (licensed agencies, home study approved families, and now expectant parents through crisis pregnancy centers).
In a nut shell, Adoption-Share provides an even playing field by providing an exclusive social network where licensed adoption agencies network directly with home study approved adoptive parents and expectant parents. We have had families tell us they had been waiting years for just a prospect of a match and within two weeks on www.adoption-share.com had been given the opportunity to act on 10 adoption situations (expectant mothers considering adoption needing a family). We also have made it possible for women curious about adoption to create an invisible and confidential profile to build an online relationship with a licensed adoption agency in the state she resides. In this way we have broadened our scope to give crisis pregnancy centers yet one more resource for women to make a life affirming option if they find they are intimidated or too scared to make a cold call to an adoption agency. Literally our reach of women in crisis is nearing 10,000 women a year!
Additionally, we have identified a great need within the pro-life community to become better educated and equipped to share adoption as an option with women considering her options as evidenced by the 3,700 abortions occurring each day in the US compared to the 68 adoptions/day. To leverage this change we contribute 10% of membership fees (from licensed agencies and home study approved adoptive parents) to crisis pregnancy centers that participate in our SHARE FOR LIFE Project which coordinates annual training and equips staff and volunteers with innovative tools to help women connect with a licensed adoption agency. We realize that if front line workers are not educated and equipped, promoting parenting as the only option to a woman in crisis, we will have no hope of helping decrease the staggering and growing number of orphans within the United States which is well over 100,000 children.
Editor’s note – read more about Thea and Adoption-Share.com in this Washington Times article.
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