Adoption is an Option: IAC's Proposed Birthparent Advocacy Campaign Introduction According to Safeguarding the Rights and Well-Being of Birthparents in the Adoption Process, a 2006 national report produced by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, … adoption is not well understood by the public generally, most women struggling to make decisions about unplanned pregnancies do not have accurate information with which to make an informed choice about whether [adoption] is a reasonable option for them. The study is one of the most thorough, intensive and sophisticated efforts to date to understand contemporary infant adoption, particularly as it relates to the least-understood and most-stigmatized participants in the process – the women and men usually termed “birthparents.” IAC counsels women, utilizing non-directive pregnancy options counseling, about all of her choices. A growing body of research informs us that, of the three choices women have when experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, adoption is the least known. It also reveals that once they learn about adoption – and choose to place their child for adoption – birthmothers overwhelmingly choose open adoption because it enables them to maintain contact with their child and empowers them to choose the individual or couple that will parent their child. Further, research clearly and overwhelmingly continues to show that open adoption is the healthiest form of adoption for the birthparents, the child, and the adoptive parents. While adoption is the legal act of permanently placing a child with someone other than the child's biological parents; open adoption includes birth and adoptive parents meeting one another, sharing full identifying information, and having direct access to ongoing contact over the years. In open adoption, birthparents and adopting parents select each other and have control over all critical decisions in their adoption, including the amount of ongoing contact. The challenge for an advocacy organization is to identify the most effective ways to reach and educate diverse young women about their least known option at a time when they are experiencing a great deal of stress and are in need of information if they are to make an informed decision. As a pioneer and an advocate of open adoption for over 25 years, IAC is nationally recognized as serving the best interests of the adoption triad (birthparents, children, and adoptive parents). IAC’s goal with the Adoption is an Option social marketing campaign is to utilize the most powerful mass medium of our day to significantly increase the number of young women who are 1) aware of open adoption as one of their choices, 2) empowered in their decision-making process, and 3) if they choose to place their child for adoption, will consider open adoption and IAC. The Opportunity The real opportunity came into focus when IAC developed a meaningful partnership with an extraordinary group of professionals who make up a nationally acclaimed television production company, Zystar Films (www.zystar.com). Zystar and its seasoned team bring substantial talent and expertise to a project that must communicate vital information about a sensitive issue to a targeted audience in 30 seconds. These types of opportunities are rare, and this one is only available for a brief time as Zystar’s creative team is in high demand. Production costs, partially subsidized by Zystar, are projected to be $80 ,000 (compared with standard production costs of $150,000 or more for a single national television ad). The targeted television airtime purchases are projected to be $100,000 per year for two years for a total project cost of roughly $28 0,000. The campaign will be supported by a national media plan developed by an experienced media-buying professional who will assist in identifying the specific television shows and time slots young women and men watch, and to maximize the efficiency of the broadcast budget. To supplement the airtime purchases, IAC will continue working closely with Google TV to increase the grant that they currently provide the agency. Additionally, significant pro bono broadcast airtime is anticipated, which is customarily available to charitable causes that produce network quality public service announcements. The ads, in conjunction with additional footage produced during production, will find a home on IAC’s web site. The ads and the additional footage will feature actual IAC birthmothers as well as on-camera testimonials from IAC staff and adoptive parents. In addition to providing vital information about open adoption, the ad will drive viewers to IAC’s web site which has a great deal of information about open adoption including research and contact information. As a nonprofit advocacy organization and an adoption agency, IAC relies on the generosity of individuals and institutions that recognize the value of open adoption and open adoption advocacy to assist in funding special projects such as this. About the Project The campaign is designed to have a lasting impact on viewers through the use of strong but simple images and memorable language that resonates with them. Target Audience That finding is supported by IAC’s internal statistics that reveal that the vast majority of women who placed their newborns through IAC between 1986 and 2007 were between the ages of 16 and 26. The Safeguarding the Rights and Well-Being of Birthparents in the Adoption Process report confirms the changing demographics: Overall, the parents placing their children for adoption in the 21st Century are very diverse and different from their counterparts in previous generations. They are no longer primarily teenagers; in fact, only about one-fourth are teens. The predominant profile is young women in their 20s who have graduated from high school, many of whom have other children. About IAC IAC is a licensed, counseling-based, nonprofit, national open adoption agency that informs, supports, and guides birth and adoptive parents through the process of placing newborns to create healthy new families. The agency is the largest and one of the oldest fully open adoption agencies in the U.S. and has facilitated nearly 4,000 successful open adoptions. IAC is one of the only adoption agencies in the country that has never had any exclusionary policies for adoptive parents, including age, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, ethnic background, color, or race. About IAC Outreach & Advertising The Google award is strategically significant because the agency reaches the vast majority of its prospective adoptive parents through the Internet and its web site. This award, in conjunction with the "optimizing" work that IAC’s marketing team is currently engaged in with a Google AdWords development team, will improve IAC’s visibility on the web. Still, the Google and Yellow Pages advertising are insufficient in reaching and serving young adults who are experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and live in economically challenged and diverse communities. IAC’s current television ad, which was produced locally and has been seen on a variety of television networks, lacks the focus and production quality to be effective. However, IAC does receive referrals from people who have seen it. The new ad, designed specifically to reach young women, will be network quality and highly focused. Measurement & Success Measurable success will enable IAC to raise additional funds to extend the campaign. Beyond tracking: Young people are extraordinary social networkers and advise each other on a plethora of things that they glean from a variety of sources, 24/7. So while IAC will have the capacity to track many of its contacts and how they came to IAC, the agency will, undoubtedly, achieve exponential success from this targeted campaign from resulting "word-of-mouth" advertising. Summation IAC transforms lives through open adoption, advocacy, education, counseling, and creating positive outcomes for birthparents experiencing an unplanned pregnancy as well as for couples and individuals unable to conceive. This campaign will launch open adoption into the national consciousness and will help IAC meet its mission by ensuring that more young adults, who are experiencing and unplanned pregnancy, are aware of all of their options, and that couples and individuals who are unable to conceive and are fully prepared to parent, get that opportunity.
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