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What now?

By now, you’ve no doubt seen the love and support we’re sharing this month in celebration of Pride. Perhaps you’ve wondered why an open adoption agency chooses to participate and recognize our LGBTQ brothers and sisters.

We raise our voices and celebrate LGBTQ families because our work is not done until more LGBTQ families are able to freely and openly welcome adoptive foster care children into their hearts and homes. Our work is not done until more LGBTQ families can adopt without discrimination or fear.

May is National Foster Care Month. It’s a time to acknowledge awesome foster parents, the work of foster care professionals and the many, many others who help the nearly 430,000 children in the foster care system.

It’s also time to be real. In May, we’ll shine a light on the failures and opportunities in that same foster care system. #FosterFacts cannot be ignored. The more than 20,000 children aging out of foster care without permanent families every year cannot be ignored.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which gives people across the country the opportunity to speak out, connect and raise awareness of an often difficult and uncomfortable topic.

Sexual assault has touched so many lives. We see it in the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, and many of us see it in our day-to-day lives.

But we don’t often see the impact on one of our country’s most vulnerable populations: foster kids.

Sexual assault statistics in the U.S. are grim.

Without abortion providers, pregnant people would have no access to safely and factually explore all of their choices. 

When put simply: Abortion care providers are heroes.

And that’s why Choice Network is recognizing the work of independent abortion care providers  across the country this week, in honor of them and in celebration of National Abortion Provider Appreciation Day on March 10.

On January 31, Choice Network Founder and CEO Molly Rampe Thomas appeared before the Ohio House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee and gave the following testimony as a proponent of HB 160, the Ohio Fairness Act. 

Only four percent of adopted children are being raised by LGBT parents.

At Choice Network, we’re proud nearly 25 percent of our families are LGBTQ.

And we’ve set a goal to increase that number to 50 percent.

If you’ve been following Choice Network social media channels the last couple of weeks, you’ve noticed we’re raising our voice when it comes to being a pro-choice open adoption agency. During this historic week of the 45th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade court decision that legalized abortion in the US, we’re celebrating being one of more than 140 organizations and leaders committed to a new vision for abortion.

There’s this little thing that’s been eating away at the corner of my conscience for weeks, maybe months now.

Sean Huiet is an assistant volleyball coach at Texas State University, and is known to his athletes as ‘Coach.’ When Sean was ready to add the title of ‘Dad’ to his roster, he knew he could turn to Choice Network for help. 

“For me, going through the adoption process for the first time and being a first time dad, I had a million questions. But with Molly, Joni, and Joe at Choice Network, there were no wrong questions. They walked me through every step, every scenario of what could happen during the adoption process, and I felt prepared,” said Sean.