Steve Goranson introduced Joe Flint, Senior Development Officer at The Cradle Foundation. Located at Simpson & Ridge (near the Civic Center), The Cradle has been “Placing Children First for 92 years.” While many Evanston residents know The Cradle as an adoption agency, it is more accurately described as a non-profit child and family welfare organization. The Cradle’s priority has always been to find families for children, rather than find children for families.
Established in 1923 by Florence Walrath, The Cradle has a long history in adoption services. After nine years of personally matching infants with prospective parents, Mrs. Walrath enlisted the help of five area businessmen, developed a relationship with Evanston Hospital and founded The Cradle. In response to a horrific gastroenteritis outbreak in the late 1920s, The Cradle building was constructed – with a state of the art nursery – in order to better protect the infants in their care.
From 1923 to 1972, The Cradle ran an Infant Nursing School, preparing graduates for work in the nursery. Significantly ahead of her time, Mrs. Walrath saw the value in engaging celebrities and corporate leaders in her efforts. During the 1930s and 1940s The Cradle reached out to Hollywood and industry, ultimately placing babies with Bob Hope, George Burns and Gracie Allen, and other high profile families.
The faces and practices of adoption have changed greatly over the years. For the first seven decades, all adoptions at The Cradle were closed. Couples were male-female (no singles allowed), and most babies and families were white. There was an underlying desire for adopted children to blend in with their adoptive families.
Today, adoptions at The Cradle are open and available to singles, gay and straight couples. Many families are transracial. The Cradle is also available to help with international adoptions. Babies placed through the Cradle are now 40% African-American, 33% White, and 27% Other (Hispanic, Asian, Bi-racial).
Thirty-five years ago, governmental regulation entered the adoption picture. As a result, The Cradle only places children now in Illinois.
The Cradle currently receives communications from nearly 1,000 birth parents/year. It is the only agency in the U.S. with an in-house nursery, allowing them to give the best care while facilitating visits prior to placement. The Cradle also prides itself on the options counseling it provides to birth parents.
One-third of babies in the nursery go home with their birth parents. The Cradle provides adoption-related counseling throughout their adoptees’ lives and also offers numerous educational programs, targeted at teens, tweens, and those struggling with family-building issues. They even offer educational webinars for participants across the country.
Licensed by the State of Illinois, The Cradle places infants up to 2 years of age. Most babies are under six months of age when they are placed. Special needs infants may require additional time for hospitalization or treatment before placement. Babies often spend four to five months in the nursery. The average age for Cradle birth mothers today is 27 and over 60% are already raising children. Reflecting the trend toward later marriages, the average age for adoptive parents is currently 40 years.
As Senior Development Officer Deb Schlies noted, everyone knows someone from The Cradle. Testimonials are an invaluable way to illustrate the organization’s reach. Paul Brown explained that he and his wife had adopted their son Randy from The Cradle many years ago. Deb shared the story of a 36-year-old birth mother who unexpectedly found herself pregnant and needed to consider the effect a new baby would have on her teenage children.
The Cradle helped her see what options were available and after much thought and prayer she selected a wonderful couple to raise her baby.
Joe explained the process that he and his partner went through to adopt daughter Emma 12 years ago, and Kayla, more recently. A very poised 9-year old, Kayla explained that her dads brought her home from The Cradle when she was seven days old and she likes seeing the babies at Cradle Open Houses and Holiday Parities. The Cradle made something Joe never thought possible “possible”!
John Cahill, patriarch of Cahill Plumbing, shared his own story as a Cradle adoptee. John’s birth mother was an unwed 17-year-old who was not in a position to raise a child. John cited two important factors – good luck and opportunity – that changed his life. His parents, 40 years old at the time of his adoption, were the "good luck" for John. They also adopted John’s sister seven years later. Opportunity came in the form of Cahill Plumbing, a family business that John’s grandfather started and is still going 125 years later. (John noted that he’d been a Rotarian in the 1970s and remembered wonderful people doing good things.) John is also the grandparent of a Cradle baby.
In response to questions, Joe noted that international adoptions have dropped drastically in recent years as other countries have imposed new regulations and limitations. The current wait for domestic adoption is about 15 months. While there is no maximum age limit for adoptive parents at The Cradle, prospective parents are encouraged to consider their ages at the end of the process. It may take a while for older individuals (or couples) to be selected by birth parents.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Deb mentioned that The Cradle would be happy to take Rotarians on a tour of their facility. If interested, please contact Deb at (847) 733-2272 or dschlies@cradle.org.
