Speaker: Anne Moody, Co-Director
Tell us about yourself!
Hello, my name is Anne Moody and I'm the co-director of a small infant adoption agency based on Bainbridge Island, Washington. I'm also the author of two books on adoption and the mother of three daughters, one of whom was adopted from Korea as an infant. After graduate school at the University of Michigan. I spent six years working in the foster care system in the Detroit area. I then returned to Seattle where I went to work for a large adoption agency that specialized in international adoption and also had an innovative birth parent counseling program that emphasized open adoption at a time when that was very unusual and birth parents had few rights and became a supervisor in that program and also served as an adoption counselor. In 1996. I joined forces with the partner to establish an infant adoption agency that we felt created the best aspects of private adoption and agency adoption.
Why do you work in adoption?
Anne Moody: My interest in adoption started when I was very young, I think from reading books and seeing movies in which the most interesting and appealing characters always seem to be Children in need of adoption. I like everything about working in adoption. I very much enjoy getting to know the people I work with and helping them navigate the adoption process. The job is always interesting, often fascinating and never boring. And I think that statement about if you do something you love, you'll never work a day in your life. Um, very much applies to me and I'm extremely grateful.
What's one piece of advice you have for families starting the adoption journey?
Anne Moody: The best advice I can give adoptive families is um be prepared, educate yourself, read everything. You can get a hold of talk to people who've adopted and then um arm yourself with a team of professionals, including hopefully an attorney and an adoption counselor who can be there for you when you need them, adoptions happen quickly and they can be very confusing and um you need, you need someone to turn to who can offer you good advice and support at that point.
What's one thing people don't know about you?
Anne Moody: Although I've written two books on adoption, I didn't get started as a writer until I was in my sixties. My first book is basically a collection of stories that I used to educate families about various aspects of adoption. And I realized after telling the same stories for about 25 years, that would be a lot more efficient if I just wrote them down. The second book was written in response to the stories I hear from families now about how difficult expensive and unethical has become to adopt. The book includes advice for navigating the current system. And hopefully we'll spur some action toward reform that can benefit both birth parents and adoptive parents.
