ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION
Founded in 2001, the Birthparent Support Alliance (formerly On Your Feet Foundation) was the first organization dedicated to providing comprehensive post-placement care for birthparents. Recognizing the lack of available resources, adoptive parents, adoption professionals and birthparents came together to meet birthparents where they are, helping them achieve their goals by developing programs and tools to acknowledge and address the grief and trauma of placement.
Today, we celebrate 25 years of service to the birthparent community. Our mission has expanded, but at the heart of everything we do are the birthparents we serve.
Through the Shared Journeys Collective, which encompasses all of our birthparent services, we continue to be one of the only independent, non-profit organizations dedicated to providing birthparents with
- comprehensive case management services,
- access to adoption-competent counseling,
- online communities and peer-led support groups, and
- retreats for birthmoms in the US and beyond.
With Activism in Adoption, we bring together all members of the adoption constellation in a unique adoption education series that highlights the lived experiences of birthparents and adoptees. Activism in Adoption also focuses on critical issues in adoption beyond infancy and early childhood, addressing the complexities of Race, Relationships and Resilience and the challenges of navigating those issues over the course of a lifetime.
These two tracks unite within the Birthparent Support Alliance, the umbrella organization for all we do, including
- innovating
- advocating and
- lifting up ethical care
for the birthparents we serve and the greater birthparent community.
Our best-case scenario will be when our services are no longer needed by anyone, ever.
Until then, we will center the voices of birthparents and adoptees at all stages in the adoption journey to improve outcomes for everyone in the adoption constellation.
Our Mission
We provide the comprehensive support, services, and community that birthparents deserve no matter when they placed their child for adoption and we advocate for birthparent rights and ethical practices in adoption in order to improve outcomes for all members of the adoption constellation.
