How are birth mothers screened?

CPO does not 'screen' birth mothers. We provide services to young women facing unplanned pregnancies. Our primary goal is to assist the women in making the best possible decisions for their children.

Since 1983. We have always encouraged openness in adoptions, even before "open adoption" became popular.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services licenses adoption agencies in the state. If you have questions about the agency, you can contact them at 405-521-2779.

We cannot provide an exact time frame. The average wait time is 6 months to 2 years. Some couples have waited as little as 20 minutes, after turning in their Life Book, others as long as 3 years.

No. When a child is conceived, as biological parents, we have no control over the sex of the baby. As such, CPO does not provide for preferred gender of the children placed for adoption. We believe that God knows just how He wants to design each family.

Federal law requires that babies born to birth parents with Native American heritage be placed with an adoptive family that has documented Native American blood. Please be sure to notify Cheryl if you have Native American heritage and a tribal roll card. We place many Native American babies and we are always short of families who have roll cards.

CPO asks local adoptive families to pay an agency fee of $4,000, and out-of-Tulsa-area families to pay $5,000. All of the money is used to pay our operating expenses, the mortgage on our Transitional Home, advertising, counseling services, to buy maternity clothes and personal care items that birth mothers might need, Support Group supplies, etc. CPO is a totally non-profit agency and no one associated with CPO is paid a salary or benefits monetarily from the fees.

CPO is a totally non-profit agency and no one associated with CPO is paid a salary or benefits monetarily from the fees.

Most of our placements are for newborn babies. However, from time to time, older infants, young children, and sometimes teenagers have needed a stable home environment. CPO has helped to facilitate these adoptions on an "as-needed" basis.

No. We place babies in a loving home environment with the adoptive couple, straight from the hospital. Quite often, the adoptive mother/couple has the opportunity to be in the delivery room when their baby is born.

Making the decision to place a child for adoption is a difficult one. Many of these courageous, young women do so with much thought and deliberation. These mothers want to provide their children with the life they themselves cannot provide. This includes a two-parent home with a stay-at-home parent. If the birth mothers wanted their children to be in day care, they would parent their children themselves.

On-going contact with his/her birth family is important for your child, for the birth family, and for you as the adoptive couple. The frequency of contact (face-to-face visits, phone calls, letters) will be dependent upon the birth mother and her availability and the proximity of the birth family and adoptive family. Typically, contact is greater in the first few weeks and months after placement. Frequency of contact is often discussed during sessions with the counselor and the birth mother and adoptive couple.

CPO has retained the services of experienced and knowledgeable attorneys who specialize in adoptions. You are required to use one of our attorneys.

We live out-of-state. Can we still adopt through CPO?

Yes. Sometimes birth mothers request out-of-state families. You will require a home study completed by a home study professional in your state and you may need to meet additional Oklahoma adoption requirements.

Out-of-state couples are required to pay an additional $1,000 in lieu of the 100 volunteer hours.

Yes. CPO has several families who open their homes to waiting couples and to new adoptive couples.

Yes. CPO requires that you be active in your local church and you will need a letter from your Pastor.

CPO wants to know if you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Yes, the pool of families waiting for children of color is smaller.

No, there is not a "waiting list." When CPO receives your Life Book, it is ready to be shown to the next birth mother whose criteria you meet. The girls often have a preference in Christian denomination, geographic location, number of children you already have, openness to pets, or the size of your town or city, to name a few! We always show them all of the Life Books that meet those preferences. We never have more than 30 Life Books at one time.

It has been widely documented that "second-hand smoke" is very harmful to everyone, especially to babies. Even if you only smoke outside, the residue on your clothing could cause serious health problems for the baby.

Each birth mother is seen by a Licensed Professional every week. If they choose, they can remain in counseling for many years. We feel that this is a very important investment in the lives of these young women.

Your Life Book would be returned to you.

Yes, if a birth mother comes to us during her pregnancy, she will see one doctor for the rest of her pregnancy and birth. This doctor is highly respected by the Tulsa medical community and is well known for his expertise. The birth mothers receive very high-quality, personal medical care. However, we also receive calls from women who have just given birth at a local hospital and have received no prenatal care.