Utah Adoption Rights

Our Mission: Utah Adoption Rights is committed to ensuring that every mother considering adoption is safe from predatory adoption practices, informed about her rights and available resources, and empowered to make the choice that is right for her and her child.

In early 2024, a small group of adoption reform advocates, led by Ashley Mitchell and Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, put their heads together. They had grown tired of hearing the same stories, over and over, about people being transported away from their homes to Utah for adoption. In 2019, a Utah adoption agency’s license was revoked for multiple violations of state licensing regulations. This felt like a win! However, five years later, in 2023, Utah Health and Human Services granted this same agency director a brand new agency license. In 2024, New York Magazine & The Cut published an article on the exploitative adoption practices concentrated in Utah. Discouraged and frustrated, our group of advocates put their heads together.

The relocation to Utah was fairly unique. We were not witnessing a comparable volume of organized relocation of pregnant people anywhere else in the United States. Although this did not fit the federal definition of trafficking, we felt that it was too close for comfort.

After months of collaboration with a stellar advisory board, made up of social workers, healthcare professionals, and advocates in adjacent areas, we hit the ground running. We wanted to disrupt the system in a positive way for women who may feel like their choices are limited, their voices aren’t being heard, and they’re isolated in an unfamiliar state—effectively cut off from resources back home. Utah Adoption Rights is a small working group, but our mission is steadfast: until every person considering adoption is safe, informed, and empowered, we will be pounding the pavement.