"NIGHTMARE" doesn't even begin to describe our experience with Bethany Christian Services. High staff turnover, an incompetent agency attorney, and a sloppy work ethic made for the worst experience of my life. We utilized the Southern New England branch. First off, their communication is WRETCHED. Whenever we had a question or concern, it took several emails and nagging phone calls/voice messages to garner a return call/email. Throughout the course of a 20-month ordeal, we had four different case workers…three of whom weren't actually certified to be adoption counselors! One of the case workers cut corners and failed to maintain adequate records, which resulted in us having to re-do most of our post-placement visits and further delay finalization. The birth mom went without a counselor for several months following the birth, and BCS failed to deliver our letters to her, which we write quarterly. Several parts of our case were missing or incomplete…thank God I keep meticulous records. The lawyer they hired to represent the agency was the epitome of incompetence; I don't think she's ever done an adoption case before. She was completely lost in court, very disorganized, and failed to give our case due diligence. So, we hired our own attorney who divulged to us other huge red flags. The agency also LIED to us about the status of parental rights termination for both the birth mother (voluntary severance) and father (involuntary severance); they also lied to the birth mother about her rights. Luckily, our attorney cleaned up this disastrous mess and we finalized our adoption about six months behind schedule. I maintained all the paperwork, we hired our own attorney, they didn't provide us or the birth parents much support, they lied to both parties…not really sure why we paid almost $40, 000. They are in business for the money and have no right to call themselves "Christian." I doubt they're even delivering our letters to the birth mom, who we want a relationship with (hence our VERY open adoption agreement). AVOID AT ALL COSTS, OR PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.