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Adoption and The Nursery: How preparing our nursery helped me be hopeful, be expectant and be ready
Adoption and The Nursery: How preparing our nursery helped me be hopeful, be expectant and be ready By Kate Helmberger If you ask any prospective adoptive parent what the hardest part of the adoption journey is for them, many times you’ll hear the same answer: the...
This Is Us: Episode 10 – Goodbyes lead to great opportunities
This is Us: Episode 10 - Goodbyes lead to great opportunities It was time for Deja to return home. Her mom had completed what the county was requiring her to. Again, it’s important to remember that it’s a television show and it’s a bit more complicated then just...
This Is Us: Episode 2 Recap – Jumping into the Foster Care World
This Is Us: Episode 2 Recap - Jumping into the Foster Care World As many of you saw last week, This Is Us took the official leap into the foster care world when Randall and Beth welcomed into their home a 12 year old girl, Deja. The family didn’t receive any...
This Is Us: Episode 1 Recap – Bringing America Closer to Adoption and Foster Care
This is Us: Episode 1 Recap - Bringing America Closer to Adoption and Foster Care Just like many other adoption agencies out there, Haven staff loved the first season of This Is Us, and the second season premiere was no different. We have fallen in love with this...
How Opioid Use Affects Haven Foster Care
written by Patti Cruz It is impossible to read the news, listen to the radio or be online without hearing a story about a family impacted by the opioid epidemic. At Haven, some of the women and men that we work with everyday through our foster care and adoption...
Haven Foster Care Picnic – A Great Success
Written by Patti Cruz When we started our foster care program, we all had dreams for the program. Some of us dreamed of the first day we would get a placement, others dreamed about the first time a child feels safe and happy with one of our families, and for me, my...
My Testimony – A Birthmother’s Story
Written by: Yanice, Biological Parent To all those who have made The Choice, My name is Yanice. I am a single mother. I have a wonderful little girl who has blessed my life in so many ways. After foolish actions on my behalf, I found out I pregnant again. I was sick...
Letting Go – A Journey From Infertility to Adoption
Written by: Liz, Adoptive Mom Adoption, for me, has been a lesson in letting go. The letting go began about a year ago. It was the middle of the night, and I was slumped on my bathroom floor, crying quietly to myself, trying not to wake my husband who was sleeping a...
How Adoptive Parents Are Like NFL Players
Written by: Meghann Chiappa, Adoptive Parent Case Manager and Director of Foster Care This is my favorite time of year—the start of fall and all things pumpkin, apple picking, sleeping with the windows open, saying goodbye to my bathing suit, and saying hello to the...
A Courageous Jump: One Woman’s Leap Into Parenting Through Adoption
Written by: Caeli Duke A few weeks after TJ and I got home from Texas, I was sharing our story to a Physician’s Assistant. It is a story I love to tell everyone and anyone. I tell family, friends and even strangers all the details of our journey to become a family....
Adoption Home Studies- What are Caseworkers really looking for?
Written By: Patti Cruz, Adoption Case Manager After moving to Philadelphia ten years ago, I quickly learned the streets and layout of the city to find the best happy hours, the best chicken wings and the quickest way to the “El”. I know the city well, I know...
Ritual After Loss
WRITTEN BY: Patti Cruz, Adoption Case Manager This past year I lost my father, the #1 Dad on the planet. His birthday passed and I found myself at a loss of what to do to mark the day. I felt a desire to “celebrate” him with some kind of tradition, but since we lived...
Samantha’s Story
written by: Birthmother Samantha Our Story Our: Samantha, Addi, Declan! Story: How Deckland became Declan! I am writing this today to tell everyone how Deckland became Declan! And our journey with Haven Adoptions. But first let me introduce us... I'm of course...
Mother’s Day 2015
written by: Kelly Weidner Mother's Day can be a wonderful, beautiful day, but also a very difficult one. For women struggling with infertility, this day can bring even more focus on how deep and powerful their pain is in longing for a child to make them a mother. For...
Finding the Right Domestic Adoption Agency for You
written by: Kelly Weidner Getting started in domestic adoption can be very overwhelming, and it’s hard to know what to ask when you are looking at different agencies that may be right for you. Take a look at our questions to help get you started. Questions to ask a...
A Birthmother’s Strength
written by: Kelly Weidner When I watch a beautiful and courageous birthmother make the loving and selfless choice of adoption and watch her both confidently and tearfully say goodbye to this little angel she gave life to, my heart aches and it makes our job so raw and...
Birthmother Robin’s Story
written by: Birthmother "Robin" We were so blessed when Robin reached out to us this week to share her story with us. Robin placed a baby girl for adoption with Haven back on July 1, 2014. Robin is an amazing woman and we are so grateful to have her in our lives....
Carol & Dave’s adoption story
written by: Kelly Weidner Many families have a tough story that leads them to adoption, and Carol & Dave were no exception. Carol & Dave went through infertility treatments and after their third in vitro fertilization they got pregnant. Sadly, Abby was...

Dad meets son for the first time!
written by: Kelly Weidner Haven is so excited that Baby Chase (now 4 months old!) got to meet his dad for the first time this weekend! Scott was deployed when his wife, Sara, came to Pennsylvania to adopt Chase, supporting her as best he could through the adoption...
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