Adoptive Parents Eric and Kate Walton of Durham, North Carolina find Family Through Email, IM and Webcam

Independent Adoption Center Profiles Birthparents, Adoptive Parents, and Children Who Have Been Adopted www.adoptionhelp.org

Durham, NC (PRWEB) December 20, 2006 -- Call it the Waltons meet the Webcam. Forget the stork, nowadays, families are put together online. Eric and Kate Walton of Durham, North Carolina are proud adoptive parents who first made contact with the mother of their child through the Internet and courtesy of the nationally-respected Independent Adoption Center (www.adoptionhelp.org).

"The idea of our baby's birthmother actually choosing us and then having the opportunity to get to know her was very comforting," said Eric and Kate. "We couldn't have been more thrilled with the process of working with IAC. They worked incredibly hard to make sure that we were all comfortable with the match and placement."

The Waltons joined the Independent Adoption Center (IAC) in December 2004. In 2005, they were put in touch with a 16-year-old birthmother who lives in California. They began talking via email, then began instant messaging then graduated to conversations by web cam. In May, through the IAC, the Waltons were matched with the birthmother who was expecting a baby girl in September. The baby girl, Laura, was born in September 2005 and placed with the Waltons. They finalized their adoption in January 2006 in Durham, North Carolina. The happy result: Waltons have a very open relationship with the birthmother, her parents, and the birthfather, and recently visited the family in California.

"The mission of the IAC is to support birth and adoptive parents as they create loving and healthy families built upon an open and trusting relationship," said IAC Southeast Regional Director Gina Hayes. "Eric and Kate have a wonderful relationship with Laura's birthmother and they understand the importance of Laura knowing her birth family."

"Knowing Laura's birth family and having a relationship with them was very important to us," agreed Kate and Eric. "IAC provided incredible guidance in forming that relationship - Laura's birth family has truly become part of our extended family."

Founded in 1982, IAC has successfully facilitated almost 4000 adoptions in 35 states and is licensed in the states of California, Indiana, Georgia and North Carolina. As a nonprofit organization, the IAC's mission is to create open adoptions: that is, a completely voluntary adoption where birth parents select the family they want to adopt their child. It is a viable and accessible alternative to untimely pregnancy throughout the United States. IAC will celebrate its 25 anniversary in May 2007. For more information, please call 1-800-877-6736 or visit www.adoptionhelp.org.

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