Linda J Barnby

Yes, the adoption process can be stressful and it may have moments of ups and downs. With that being said, I am so thankful intrusting Linda with our adoption. Her passion and commitment to both the birthmother and us overshadowed the challenges of the adoption process. We are so grateful and than...kful to Linda and her staff. I am also thankful for a referral from a co-worker who used Linda for her adoption. Everyday I hold my daughter in my arms, I can not express the appreciation and gratitude we have for Linda. She made our dream come true!!!

Linda and her assistant (Jody) were the best possible adoption lawyer service we could imagine. Not only did they match us with a great birthmother/baby, but they went above and beyond the normal course of what we would expect for their duties to ensure the mother/baby were safe in tough circumsta...nces, and understood how important this adoption was to our family. They always proactively called/emailed us to ensure we were aware of next steps, concerns and educating us on the process. We found out about the selection in early September, and had the baby home by early October. The birthmother also thought a lot of Linda and her team and that made her very comfortable in working with us throughout the process. Extremely smooth and we can't thank them enough for their tireless efforts in a successful adoption.

Choosing to work with Linda Barnby was the biggest mistake we ever made. She matched us with a mentally unstable birth mother desperately in need of counseling - she did not offer counseling to this woman. The birth mother also had previous biological children removed from her care by the state, but ...Linda did not tell us this. Ultimately, the birth mother changed her mind about us and chose a single mom as the adoptive parent 3 weeks before her due date. Not only did Linda charge us for legal fees, but she included non-legal related expenses in our bill. For example, she billed us $300/hr for 5 hours while helping the birth mother find a bed. This adoption failed over 12 months ago and we have yet to recover any money from Linda. She has been unresponsive when we questioned her billing practices. We have had to seek additional legal assistance to recover a small portion of our money. Adoption is a difficult process even when you have honest, appropriately trained professionals to work with. Linda Barnby is neither.

I worked with Linda Barnby while in the process of adopting and I do not recommend her to other prospective adoptive parents. My greatest concerns with Ms. Barnby have to do with the way she handled the adoption finances. The birth mom that Ms. Barnby partnered me with ultimately changed her mind a...nd decided to parent her baby. Unfortunately for me, the birth mother expenses were quite high, and Ms. Barnby opted to give money that was budgeted for the 6 weeks post delivery to the birth mom ahead of time. She did this without consulting me, and I was unable to recoup that amount once the adoption didn't go through. Ms. Barnby also elected to keep her entire legal fee in my case, even though the vast majority of legal work in the adoption (which was to be done AFTER the birth when parental rights are terminated) was never carried out. This made an already devastating experience all the more difficult. I would not recommend that any adoptive parent use Ms. Barnby's adoption services as in my experience, her lack of regard for me and my finances was very disappointing.