Expert explains how pandemic has impacted child adoptions

FOX 2 - Nicole Witt with the Adoption Consultancy joined FOX 2 to talk about how the pandemic has changed the adoption field.

"When the pandemic first hit, everybody thought that adoptions were going to disappear and there were not going to be any places," she said. "And that did not happen for quite a while, they kept going for a while like normal. Several months in, we did see a reduction in the number of adoptions but it seems to be coming back to typical levels."

FOX 2: We live in a virtual world how has that affected adoptions?

"One of the positives that I think has come from this, that I hope continues post-pandemic is using the technology for a lot of the aspects of it, that was otherwise quite cumbersome," Witt said. "For example people are used to doing court hearings virtually, I’m really hoping that continues and saves people from a lot of the hassle and expense associated with extra travel, and that kind of thing."

FOX 2: You say we can do more from home. Including social media. 

"People have gotten more comfortable with maintaining relationships via social media and that’s not unusual for adoptive families and birth families to have an ongoing relationship that they maintain virtually without getting together in person," she said. "So now that people are more comfortable with that, and know-how to make that work, I think that’s going to be a real positive for those relationships."

FOX 2: How does that work on social media for those who aren’t familiar?

"There are a lot of different ways that it can," Witt said. "In terms of talking about after the adoption, traditionally, when the adoptive parents would write actual letters and send physical pictures. So now it’s so much easier for people to connect on social media or if they’re not totally at that level of transparency, they might set up a shared website where they can communicate privately, and share information and things like that. So it depends on the commitments they made and what everyone’s comfort level are."

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