About Adoption Paths

from Sara Lively, M.S.Ed.

I am not affiliated with an adoption agency. An independent adoption consultant, I have no financial interest in your choices about adoption.

By phone or in person, I provide you with the personalized information and support you need to set out on your path, whether it's international or domestic, open or closed, agency or independent adoption - or not to adopt at all. If you choose to adopt, I'll be honored to serve as your personal adoption coach throughout the process to complement the general services your adoption agency or attorney provides to comply with the legal process.

For residents of any state in the U.S., I offer adoption classes by phone (teleclasses) and personalized adoption consulting and coaching by phone or in person - all specially designed as an alternative for prospective and waiting adoptive parents. In Northern California, I also offer various adoption seminars for the infertile community.

Since 2002, more than 700 singles and couples have benefited by my adoption seminars, classes and personalized adoption consulting. My neutral approach is now widely recognized. Stanford University and Kaiser Permanente fertility clinics in Northern California regularly feature me as their speaker on the topic of adoption. I also launched and continue to teach the first adoption seminars at four community colleges: Mission College, Cabrillo College, DeAnza College, and the College of San Mateo. I present workshops semiannually at conferences sponsored by Open Path (formerly Resolve of Northern California).

My services are offered to all prospective and waiting adoptive parents - those experiencing infertility as well as those considering adoption as their first choice, and singles as well as couples in opposite gender and same gender relationships.

About Sara Lively
more about Sara Lively (.pdf download)

With more than thirty years of professional experience, along with personal experience as an adoptive mother, I am uniquely qualified to guide you as you embark on your adoption journey.

As the founder of Adoption Paths six years ago, I have provided hundreds of couples and singles with unbiased, expert advice and guidance about the full range of adoption options – international and domestic.

A college instructor, I have taught “adoption basics” classes over the years at several colleges in Northern California. I regularly present adoption-related workshops at conferences sponsored by Open Path (formerly Resolve of Northern California), whose “Exploring Adoption” support groups I facilitate. I also teach workshops at Stanford University’s Reproductive Endocrinology unit and other fertility clinics.

Previously, after earning my Masters Degree in education (with a specialty in adult learning theory) from the University of Pennsylvania, I worked for many years as the Executive Director of three nonprofit organizations serving women and children in crisis. In that role, I administered counseling programs, built collaborative programs with child welfare services, and cultivated my training and coaching skills.

I received training in adoption at professional conferences sponsored by the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, the North American Council on Adoptable Children, Ethica in collaboration with the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, and Pact: An Adoption Alliance. I also have specialized training in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and I’m the co-organizer of Northern California’s first conference on the impact of prenatal substance exposure on adopted children and their families.

I’m the parent of a grown son by birth and (with my husband) a seven-year-old son by adoption. My passion for my work is informed and inspired by my personal experience of adopting after secondary infertility.

Despite the need for personalized guidance through a process that's as logistically complex as it is emotionally challenging, there are still very few independent adoption consultants in the United States. Most of these are well-intentioned adoptive parents eager to share their experiences, without the formal training and professional experience I have. I consider myself a pioneer, devoted to the task of preparing and supporting you fully for your life-changing adoption journey.

I look forward to the opportunity to serve you. Please e-mail sara@adoptionpaths.com, or call me at 831-476-7252.

"We recommend Adoption Paths services wholeheartedly. Sara is extremely knowledgeable and caring. She demystified the various options so that coming to a decision about adoption was much easier than we thought it would be...In our mind, she was our adoption doula - an experienced woman who accompanied us on our journey into parenthood. Sara will always have a special place in our hearts because she helped our long-awaited dream of becoming a family come true."
- Suzanne and Eric K.